Apocalypse
by OnyxAngel3
Summary: Now... why do you think this fic is titled APOCALYPSE? ...Let the real danger begin... O O "How was she supposed to know that her trip to the Amazon for an archeological dig would help bring about the beginning of the end?" JXJ My first fic! R&R!
1. Cutting It Close

Cutting It Close

After staring at the white speckle-plastered ceiling of her bedroom for what seemed like an eternity, Julia let out a sigh of frustration and glanced at the clock on her nightstand.

Two o'clock.

In the morning.

_This is ridiculous! I can't fall asleep! _she thought.

Tuning over in bed, Julia decided to stare at her wall for a while. The pale green walls were supposed to be calming and therefore allow her to sleep-like-never-before but instead they reminded her even more of the reason sleep had decided to play hide-and-seek. The Amazon rainforest. Julia still couldn't believe that her university had decided to sponsor her trip to an archaeological dig in the heart of South America. It had been her lifelong dream: to go to some exotic spot somewhere in the world and make an amazing discovery. Well, she still had to make the indisputable discovery, but at least half of her dream was about to become a reality. Once again sighing, Julia turned in bed and stared at the clock.

_Like staring at the clock is going to make me fall asleep faster. Turning off the lamp may be a good idea. I might actually slumber off into lala-land if there's no light._

Suddenly, her charging cell phone began to vibrate, causing Julia to jump. If that were possible while lying down.

_Who on Earth is texting me at this hour of the night...or rather morning?_

Reaching over to the nightstand, Julia picked up her shiny black Dare and took a look at the sender.

"Verity. I should have known," she said with a smile and viewed the message.

_* Hey Jules. Just seeing if you're suffering the same sudden onset of insomnia as I am. Call me if you are! -Ver *_

Laughing, Julia went to her list of contacts, found Verity's name and hit the call button. Less than a ring later her best-friend-forever answered her cell.

"Well Jules. Guess we're both on sleep's Do Not Disturb list," said a friendly and playful voice.

"Yeah. Guess we are," Julia responded.

"You nervous about tomorrow?"

"Not really. More excited than anything. I mean, can you believe it! We're actually going to the Amazon! We're going to join one of the most prestigious archaeological teams in the world and be among the first to discover an ancient temple practically buried under thousands of years' worth of undergrowth!" Julia said, excitement more than evidently lacing her voice.

"Nah, actually I can't. I'm still thinking this is all one unbelievably long dream and I'm going to wake up any moment to find one of my biggest dreams vanishing like some ethereal ghost!" Verity exclaimed.

"Well then, don't wake up Ver. You keep dreaming while I'll make my way to Bolivia and make that dream reality, no matter how cliché that sounds," Julia said while giggling.

"Hey! Don't think I'm gonna let you steal all the glory of uncovering an artifact that will put you straight into the history books." Verity warned jokingly.

"Don't worry Ver. I wouldn't want my name in the history books without yours next to it."

"You're the greatest, you know."

"Yeah. I know." Julia responded smugly.

After spending about an hour chatting about how they would find someway to be famous with this opportunity, Julia and Verity decided to give sleep one last try. Sure enough their long conversation had left them sleepy and within half an hour, both of them dropped like rocks.

-------------------------------------------------------------

_...I am an arms dealer_

_fitting you with _

_weapons in the form of words...._

Pulling her out of the dreamworld, Julia's alarm clock began to randomly play a song off of her iPod. Today's pick: "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" by Fall Out Boy.

Groaning, Julia reached over to turn it off but thought better of it. If nothing more it would perk up her spirit and let her drag herself out of bed. Suddenly, the fact that it was morning caused her to literally jump out of bed.

"Yes! I actually got some sleep and the rest of the night went by in a flash!" Julia said to herself.

Glancing briefly at the clock, she saw that it was 8:37 am.

"8:37!!! Shit! I should have woken up at eight! God, I slept like a baby! I have to get to the airport by 9:30 or I'll miss my flight. Shit!" Julia cursed as she threw on t-shirt and some jeans, ran her brush through her waist length brown hair, then flew around her room gathering everything she needed. She grabbed her backpack and tossed in her iPod, her journal, her brush and then ran to the bathroom, grabbed her bag of toiletries, put it in and dashed out of the room.

"Perfect, just perfect! I have to make at least three trips down to the car then back to the apartment to get all of my bags in the trunk!" Julia muttered to herself.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

"No! I don't have time for visitors right now! Dammit!" Julia moaned as she went to open the door. Standing in the doorway was Atticus, her neighbor from down the hall.

"Atticus! Sorry but I don't have a lot of time to talk, I have to get to the airport _now," Julia_ hurriedly said.

"I saw that your Altima was still in the parking lot, and thought that you might be running late. Overslept didn't you?" Atticus responded with a smile and amused twinkle in his light blue eyes.

"Yeah, didn't fall asleep till three in the morning," Julia stated with a panicked expression.

"Need any help getting your stuff in your car?"

"Yes, please!"

"I'll take the two big ones," Atticus said with a laugh.

"You are my savior Atticus!"

With Atticus' help Julia was able to get her three bags into her sliver Nissan Altima in only one trip. Within minutes she had flown into the street and made her way to the freeway so that she could make it to Phoenix International Airport and catch her flight to La Paz, Bolivia. Atticus had also agreed to do Julia one more...or rather two more, huge favors and said he would lock up her apartment for her then go pick up her car from the airport. She had handed him the second set of car keys and said she would call and tell him where she'd parked.

_Atticus, I will be forever indebted to you for this! _She thought as she passed a shiny blue minivan and sped down the freeway. _My God. I'm barely gonna make it!_

Julia pulled into the closest parking space to the entrance she could find then sent Atticus a text so he would know where to find the Altima. With the help of a couple of good-samaritan strangers, she was able to lug her bags to the counter where baggage was being loaded, then quickly went through the inspection area and metal detectors. Running to the terminal, she quickly handed her ticket to one of the flight attendants who was checking people in.

"Cutting it a little close are we?" the flight attendant said with a smile.

"Yeah...I accidentally overslept," Julia admitted sheepishly.

"Well, you made it. So you can breathe easy now," the attendant said, "Go on ahead."

"Thanks," Julia said, ridiculously relieved.

Handing her ticket to another stewardess, Julia was directed to her seat. As she walked down the aisle she caught a few humorous smiles from the other passengers, since it was evident she'd just barely made it.

"Verity!" Julia exclaimed as she found her seat next to her best friend.

"Geez girl! Looks like I wasn't the one who decided to keep dreaming," Verity said with loud laughter. Her jet-black chin length hair bobbed around her face as her body shook with now-suppressed giggles. She looked up at Julia, her dark blue eyes shimmering.

"Yeah...well, I'm here now. You aren't getting _my_ share of the glory too!" Julia lightheartedly threatened.

The pilot announced that they were about to take off, and everyone fastened their seatbelts. Julia proceeded to tell Verity about her eventful morning. As the plane rose to its travel height, Julia looked out the small window and saw the world shrink before her. She was leaving home behind, and only God knew what was in store for her now.


	2. A New Friend and A Long Trip

**a/n Whoops…forgot to stick the disclaimer thingy in the last chapter so I guess I'll stick it in with this one….**

**Disclaimer: …as much as I'd love to… **

**I do not own Namco or Tekken or any of the Tekken characters **

**(oh and the lyrics of the song in the last chap. belong to Fall Out Boy…)**

…**. so don't sue me!**

**It's set after Tekken 6 by the way…I'm taking the liberty to make up a "Tekken 6" ending…you'll see… ****J**

**Verity is mine though…so… you can't steal her!**

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A New Friend and A Long Trip**

"I can't believe how long that flight was! " Verity exclaimed as both she and Julia exited the plane.

"Of course it was, silly. Did you expect to be here in two hours?" Julia teased as Verity's face twisted in annoyance.

"Damn. I can't feel my legs…or my butt. Is that possible?"

"That's your own fault…you had a chance to at least stand up while we were flying." Julia said while laughing hysterically.

"Shut up," Verity retorted while sticking her tongue out at Julia.

Laughing the girls made their way to the baggage claim area, and waited as the long black conveyor belt pulled along everyone's baggage like a snake twisting through a field. However it seemed to be doing only that: pulling through everyone _else's_ baggage. There was absolutely no sign of their bags anywhere.

"Um…Jules? Where are our bags?" Verity asked as they saw every other passenger pick up their suitcases and duffle bags and then make their way towards the exit.

"They should be coming along now…I think."

"If the stupid airport left our bags in Phoenix, I'm gonna be so pissed they are going to wish they were living under a rock!" Verity threatened as she saw a new wave of people from another flight making their way toward the claiming area.

Twenty minutes later, as Verity was about to go yell herself hoarse to some unfortunate airport employee, Julia saw their bags and pointed in the direction of the conveyor belt.

"Oh Verity…no need to go take someone's hearing out. Let's just get our bags and leave for the hotel. We are in dire need of restive beauty sleep," Julia said with a small laugh.

"Oh. My. God. How many bags did you think were necessary Julia?" said a shocked Verity, as she saw all three of Julia's bags. "How are you going to get all of those to the hotel…hell…how are you going to get all those into the jungle?"

"Well…we're gonna be here for two months Verity. I'm not going to be washing my clothes _by hand_ every other day…are you? I'm going to need a bit of help to move it all though," Julia said with a defeated sigh.

"Of course you are. You're strong but not that strong. Unless…are you Supergirl in disguise or something?" the dark-haired girl said in a contriving tone, " Wait, no that's not possible. If you were you would have flown yourself here…literally. No need for poor airport assistance."

"Where on Earth do you come up with all of those ridiculous theories? Do you do nothing else at night but come up with random comedic thoughts?" Julia said while laughing.

Frowning Verity responded, "No. Do you do nothing else but laugh _all _the time? I know _I_ graduated high school as the 'class clown' but not everything I say is funny."

"Actually, most of what you say is hilarious. You have one hell of a way with words Ver. You were right about my being Supergirl…I would have left you in the dust hours ago if I was," Julia joked.

"Hey!….. Maybe _you_ should have been class clown"

With some difficulty, the girls were able to pack their things into the back of a taxi, and made their way to the hotel they were going to spend the night in. Unlike the previous night, they fell asleep the moment they hit the bed. Damn…air travel I was shockingly exhausting!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So we're supposed to meet someone in the lobby on the first floor right?" asked Verity as she brushed her wet hair the following morning.

"Yeah," Julia answered as she pulled her long hair into one long plait, " His name is Brock Stryker. He's one of the archaeologists who supervise the dig. We'll be under his tutelage for the majority of our stay here."

"Do you know if he's some stuck up jerk? I'd hate to have listen to a guy like that…our Ancient Civilizations professor was bad enough…I need a break already!" Verity insinuated as Julia shot her a shocked look.

"Immediately jumping to conclusions, Ver? Don't try to make him look like an evil monster already…we don't even know him. Although…if we make him seem really evil, reality will seem so much kinder," Julia said thoughtfully.

"Yeah you're right!" Verity cried out enthusiastically.

"I was joking, Ver. Let's just go meet him and we'll draw our assumptions later." Julia said exasperatingly.

Half an hour later Julia and Verity made their way to the main lobby on the first floor. Since they saw no one that fit Brock's description: tall, dark-haired, with dark blue eyes dressed in khaki colored clothing, they decided to sit and wait.

"Would you ladies happen to be named Julia Chang and Verity Hartley?" said a deep voice suddenly.

Both girls looked up to see a man in his early thirties who fitted Brock Stryker's description exactly. Surprised, they stood up quickly and introduced themselves.

"Yes, I'm Julia Chang."

"And I'm Verity Hartley."

"Brock Stryker I presume?" Julia said after they shook hands.

"You would presume correctly," said Brock with a smile, "Nice to finally meet you ladies."

"Likewise, Mr. Stryker," said a wide-eyed Verity sweetly. _Damn…he's HOT! Look at him…a whole new meaning to the phrase "Tall, dark and handsome." He shouldn't be an archeologist…he should be some actor or model….damn! _I_ sure won't mind having to listen to him._

Noticing Verity's sudden change in demeanor, Julia elbowed her in the ribs. _Oh come on Verity, don't start crushing on guys yet. We just got here._

"Well, we'll have enough time to get well acquainted later. We have a ferry to catch. You should go get your things. I'll wait for you here," Brock said with a funny smile as he too had seen Verity's suddenly enthusiastic expression.

After gathering their things Julia and Verity returned to the lobby and then, with Brock, made their way in a van-taxi, to the La Paz docks. Brock had told them that they had a long trip ahead of them. First they would take a two-day "cruise" in the ferry down the Beni River to the city of Riberalta, where they would spend the night. After that they would take a smaller boat further down the river, about _two hours _down the river, where they would stop at a small fishing village and take a jeep to the site. All in all, about a two and a half day trip. To both Julia and Verity…it was going to be like hell: Two and a half days of doing nothing but waiting to finally make it to the dig.

Over the two, nearly three, day trip, the three archaeologists got to know each other quite well. Verity and Julia learned, much to Verity's dismay, that Brock was married, and that his wife worked at the dig as well. Brock learned that the twenty-one-year-olds were martial artists and loved to fight, yet were very easy to get along with. He also learned that they loved to hear the myths and legends of secluded cultures.

"So the two of you can kick butt, eh."

"Yup. And kick butt good," Verity said happily.

"But it's not like we go looking for fights. We don't do a whole lot right now. Mostly just sparring with each other." Julia added, so that it wouldn't seem like they were troublemakers.

"Either of you ever been in an actual fighting tournament? Like the ones on TV?" asked Brock, his curiosity stirred.

"No. Well at least I haven't. Julia's been in like three of them though!" said Verity with a hint of sadness for her own lack of credentials.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Four of the really big ones actually. The King of Iron Fist Tournaments 3,4, 5, and 6." Julia said while trying to not seem overly arrogant about it, "I didn't go as far as I wished I would in any of them."

"I heard of those. Only the best of the best made it into those. They were hosted in Japan weren't they?" Brock said shocked that at her age she had competed in bouts like those. He had no idea that Julia would have tournaments of that caliber under her belt.

"Yeah," responded Julia.

"I heard the last one ended abruptly though. No one really knows why. Do you know?" said Brock.

"Well…the reason the sixth tournament ended is still hazy. I sure don't know. There was no winner, no nothing. One day they announced that the tournament was going to be postponed indefinitely, the next thing you knew they announced that it was over. Just like that. We were sent home with no explanation. Everyone was pissed.

There were rumors though, before everyone left. Everyone said it had to do with Jin Kazama. Since he owned the Mishima Zaibatsu, he was the one who had the tournament launched in the first place therefore the only one with the authority to end it. He's disappeared since then. No one's heard from him. Some say that he was assassinated, other that he was finally captured by G Corp and still some say he'd had enough of the war with his father and simply up and left everything," Julia recounted.

"Sounds like a troubled guy," said Brock starkly. He'd heard of every horrible thing that the "war" between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corp had caused. "Maybe it's a good thing that he's not around. Not necessarily dead, but simply gone, you know?"

"Maybe," said Verity, "who knows? The 'war' between the two corporations has stopped, but I don't think it will stay like that for long. What do you think Jules?"

"Honestly, I don't know what to think. My family has never had a good impression of the Mishimas but I just think they've all been led horribly astray," stated Julia.

"Well it seems like everyone has their troubles. Some just have crappier ones than others," Brock said, which caused the girls to let out a few chuckles. "So you said you two like legends and myths right?"

"Oh! We love them - Julia's tribe's got a boatload of them! They're really intriguing!" exclaimed Verity.

"Well you should hear the ones of the tribe we're staying with. They're actually a bit scary. They tell them every few weeks. You two will be lucky, the next recounting is in a few days," stated Brock, then smiled as he saw their faces light up even more.

"That'll be amazing. What's the tribe called again?" asked Julia.

"Well…I just call them The Tribe. I can't pronounce their name," admitted Brock sheepishly, "In fact, no one else from the team can."

"What? You guys have been here for how long? and you can't say the name of the tribe?" said Verity shocked, "I thought you super-smart archaeologists could do anything."

Laughing Brock responded, "Well…It seems even we have our limitations."

After another hour of casual conversation, Brock finally announced their arrival.

"Well, ladies, here we are, your home away from home for the next two months. Welcome to: The Village. And no it is nothing like the movie."

Laughing again, Julia and Verity stepped out of the Jeep and took in the view of their new residence.


	3. Watcher

Well, this chapter turned longer than I had expected it to be so I chopped it in two. Oh well. I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken and doubt that I ever will…. L

Watcher

Pulling their luggage up the set of wooden stairs of the house, Julia and Verity walked down a hall and into the new room they would be sharing. It was quite a simple setup, there was nothing more than two twin-sized cots, a set of wooden shelves set in the wall, two bedside tables and a large chest at the foot of each of the beds where they could put all of their clothes in. After stacking their suitcases against the wall, both girls decided to take a look at their new environment.

"Unpacking can come later Julia. Right now I'm dying to go exploring around this place," Verity said with unhindered excitement sparkling in her cobalt eyes.

"Alright, alright. Let's go check out our quaint little village. But we have to be quick, it will be getting dark soon," Julia said as she zipped up the smallest of her suitcases and left it on the bed.

"I want to look around the jungle-forest first, I hear that there are always tons of exotic animals everywhere! Maybe I'll make an animal friend that I can take everywhere- I would love to have a pet toucan, wouldn't you!?" Verity exclaimed as her stream of thoughts came out in one long run-on announcement.

"Who wouldn't? Although I think I would like a little monkey better. You know, like the one's that are always in the movies. They're so cute," Julia responded in an amused tone.

Making sure to keep the village in sight, the girls wandered around the cascade of green trees, ferns and other small shrubs. Moss seemed to cover every tree and every tree seemed to go on forever. As they looked up, they could see weak beams of sunlight peeking through the swathing canopy and making their way to the needy plants on the ground level. As they continued to explore, the beams slowly began getting weaker and weaker. Soon afterwards they encountered a ribbon of open dirt that made a small path through the underbrush. Following it, they came to an average sized pool of crystal clear water about fifteen feet in diameter and about five feet deep. The liquid was so pristine and translucent they could see straight to the bottom.

"This must be where the villagers get their drinking water," Julia concluded as she noted that there appeared to be no fishes, or any other living thing, in the water.

"Yeah. Guess that means we won't be able to go swimming in it. Damn. But it's so perfect- better that any chlorinated pool I've ever seen," muttered Verity.

"No. Of course we're not going to go swimming in it. Are you crazy? Do you want to contaminate your own water, because remember- it's now our water too," Julia replied with a hint of incredulity in her voice, "If you were to do something like that, they'd probably be so furious they'd kick us out: Toss us into the river and hope that the piranhas made quick work of us."

"You come up with the oddest things Julia," Verity managed to utter through her loud fit of laughter.

As she stood there waiting for Verity's episode to be over, Julia suddenly got the feeling of being watched. Looking around she saw that there was no one but her and Verity. Strangely enough, the feeling didn't go away, but instead became more intense, as if whoever was staring at her was standing beside her. Giving the area another sweeping glance, Julia again noted that there was no one and nothing there; more importantly, she noted that there was not a single noise. Aside from Verity's now-dissipating giggles, it was dead silent. There was not the chirp of a bird, nor the buzzing of insects, nor the rustling of the wind. Oddly, it reminded Julia of a horror movie. In a frustrated attempt to locate the reason why she suddenly felt-like-someone-or-something-wanted-to-start-up-a-staring-contest-with-her, Julia looked up.

---- And nearly screamed.

A set of brilliant, glowing, yellow-toned eyes were staring at her from about twenty-five feet up the nearest tree. The dark figure was hidden in the safety of the canopy's shadow, and Julia couldn't tell _what _it was, but she could tell that it was not friendly.

"Verity! Look! There's something --there's something -- in the tree --staring at us!" Julia stammered as she turned her best friend around to face the veiled danger and pointed up the length of the trunk.

"What?" Verity questioned in a confused tone while looking around wildly, "Where?"

"There. In the tree!" Julia urged. But, as they turned to look, Julia noticed that it was gone. Without so much as moving the leaves of the tree, or making the slightest of sounds, the occult figure had vanished.

"Where? I don't see anything!" Verity whispered urgently to Julia, "Where?!"

"It's gone." Julia stated with disbelief.

"Are you sure there was something there?"

"I'm positive! Something was staring! I could feel it! When I looked up: there it was. It had these glowing yellow eyes and…!"

"Calm down Jules. I think you just imagined it"

"No," Julia firmly declared, "There. Was. Something. There. ---- Staring at me!"

"Maybe we should go back to the village. It's pretty dark and we wouldn't want to get lost." Verity said in an effort to calm down the frightened girl, "Let's go."

Nodding, Julia quickly followed Verity back up the path and in no time at all they had reached the village. Upon returning to their room, Julia tossed her suitcase off of the bed and threw herself facedown on it while thinking of the menacing entity that had nearly caused her a heart attack.

_Where did that thing go? It couldn't have disappeared like that. Without making a noise or anything? That's not possible._

"Are you okay Jules?" Verity inquired concernedly as she sat at the foot of her own bed.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I guess the light, or rather the lack of light, must have played tricks with my mind," Julia muttered from her pillow.

_Wow. She really freaked herself out. _Frowning, Verity walked over to her friend's bed and sat on the edge, "Are you _sure_ you're okay?"

Turning over, Julia looked at her friend with a genuine smile, "Yes Ver, I'm fine. Thank you for caring,"

Smiling, Verity replied, "Well, what are friends for? Does Julie you need a hug, too?" and with a smug grin opened her arms.

Laughing, Julia hugged her, "Thanks"

"No problemo - I am here to help," Verity said in a mock-hero voice as they pulled apart.

As they continued to laugh, there was a knock at their door. Verity stood up and strolled to see whom it was.

"Oh. Hello Brock!" she said enthusiastically.

"Hello Verity. I just came over to see if you and Julia wanted to come and hear those legends I was talking to you about. The chief decided to have them told tonight in honor of their new guests. I also kinda told them you two are big fans, and he said he'd have them moved up."

"That would be amazing. That's just what you need Julia. Some good, old-fashioned legend-telling," Verity turned to Julia with an enormous smile and exited glimmer in her eyes.

"I am so there," Julia said while standing up to stride over and lean on the door, "When does the grand event begin?"

"Actually, right now."

"Right now?" both girls uttered at the same time, surprised.

"Yeah."

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Julia expressed excitedly, her ominous feeling discarded.

"Follow me then," Brock turned around and walked down the small hallway that led to the outside.


	4. Legend

_Well, here's the next installment of my story. Even though it's technically the other half of the last chapter it's still pretty long (almost three thousand words! Wow. Not even my school essays get anywhere near this long!). _

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken_

_Legend_

_Brock then led Julia and Verity to the largest of the wooden-paneled huts. _

_It was a considerably big building: approximately fifty by forty feet. The high-placed ceiling went up about twelve feet in the middle, and then sloped down to about ten where it joined with the two broadest walls. It had a large hole in the center of the roof about three feet in diameter where smoke from the large fire in the middle of the room was escaping. It was one huge room, with only large vertical beams evenly spaced throughout to give stability to the roof. There were already many people situated in the room and around the fire. Brock led Verity and Julia over to an empty space near one of the windows, where they could lean against one of the beams if they wanted to._

"_I'm gonna be translating it all, so I thought it best to be a bit away from everyone so they don't become annoyed with my constant jabbering. It's not as good as hearing it in it's native language but it's still one hell of a story," Brock explained as they sat down._

"_Sure, no problem. Man I wish I knew their language, this would be so much easier!" Verity whispered as the chief began to speak. His deep voice resonated throughout the entire room, simple echoing off of the bare walls._

"_Alright, here we go," said Brock and then began to translate the foreign dialect for the two American girls._

"_For centuries, the stories of our ancestors have been passed. From father to son and from mother to daughter. Legends have enthralled our imaginations and captivated our minds. In honor of our newest guests, I have decided to recount the greatest of these stories. Greatest of them all, but also the most frightening. It is the tale of our ancestors from over three thousand years ago and their struggle to shut the gateway that connected our fair and modest world to the sinister and gruesome realm of the demons._

"_No one knows how the gateway came to be. It could have been a tear in the fabric that separates our worlds, the doing of a malevolent demon in search of more death and destruction, the misguided practices of an overly ambitious human who sought to prove his worth in the world of the damned, or it simply could have always been and only had to be discovered. The gateway was, to our world, a fountain of evil, from which spewed forth only shadows and damnation. Hundreds of demons came to wreak havoc and destroy our people. They cared for little more than their own dark purposes. Our ancestors were fierce warriors who had decided that if they were to die, they would die whilst attempting to end the fiends' reign of revulsion and not whilst cowering in a hidden cave as many did. Hundreds of our men joined with the warriors of other tribes to cleanse our homeland of their malicious influence. Hundreds went into battle against the fiends, and almost all died. _

"_We were only human. Whereas they were beings of black magic. They possessed inherent weapons and defenses that our minds could not comprehend nor our might defeat. Their armor was plated into their very skin; their claws, their teeth, and their horns were sharper than our spears. Above all, was their most valued advantage: their wings. Nearly all demons had wings whose span reached a length greater than that of this room. Very few did not possess this attribute, and those were the few who we were able to narrowly defeat. The ones with the power of flight scoured the land from above, searched for us, and then destroyed us with no mercy. It was their intent to destroy our race, and take possession of our world and convert it into an added extension to their own. Their world was no longer large enough to withhold the iniquity that these evil creatures emanated._

"_We fought valiantly, but futilely. We lacked the technology, the ingenuity, and the strength of a leader who knew how to handle a precarious situation. For many years, the battle wore on. It was an impressive feat, for we were weak creatures compared to them. We were ants battling birds of prey. Blood was spilt every day, and yet every day more would join the fight. Humanity would not end in a cry of fear, but in a cry of determination and defiance. It was then that our gods answered the cries for help that had begun to fade. To us was sent a being of the celestial realm. A leader, an angel, a Seraph. _

"_Our people could not believe that such a fair being could aid our people in their struggle. She seemed so…fragile. Yes, she was a female. The seraph was small, her pale skin was whiter than the clouds, and her hair was darker than the night. Upon her dainty head rested a diadem intricately wrought of the purest platinum and inlaid with small cerulean jewels. Her eyes were a dark mahogany brown and could tell you how she felt. If she were serene and with little worry, her dark orbs would remain dark. If she were in high spirits or likewise livid, her eyes would begin to glow, and one could swear that they were made of liquid gold. Her silvery wings were like those of dove, soft and elegant, yet upon a second consideration one could see they were undoubtedly powerful, like those of a falcon. And although her appearance was at first heartbreaking, her true worth was soon revealed._

"_Her guidance was what we needed, and with it, the demons were left in confusion. At first they could not give credence to the fact that we had gotten smarter. How could we? We were only human. It was then that suspicions began to circulate among the ranks of the demons. Had one of their own kind betrayed them, and joined the struggle of the humans? It seemed the only way in which we could possibly outmaneuver them. So, they began to grow wary of their cohorts and every single one grew suspicious of their companions. They began to accuse one another, and soon, they began to battle themselves. The leading commander of the demons, an obscure creature that knew no bounds, grew furious, and through gruesome methods managed to stop the brawling._

"_The fact that the demons had been fighting themselves had been glorious. We believed that they would exterminate themselves in this way. It was a victory and celebration that was short lived._

"_Once again the demons trusted, or rather -were forced to trust, each other and the assaults continued. Until then, it was believed that it would be safer if the seraph stayed hidden. However, during one particularly ghastly battle, the seraph was discovered, and the key to our sudden advantage was revealed. Upon her revelation, she threw aside her celestial composure, and joined us in battle. The demons were shocked. Not one of them could so much as touch her. She was too fast; too skilled for that. Our warrior angel nearly single-handedly fought back the throngs of demons. Her bladed staff yielded an end to the demons and she was soon feared by all of them. The seraph was an incredible being. She not only possessed great skill with her bladed staff, but also with her hands and her mind. Hand to hand combat held little problem for her and those who were susceptible to her telepathy were left writhing on the ground in incomprehensible agony._

"_Infuriated, the demons' commander decided to end it once and for all. He halted his assaults; a fact that had the humans apprehensive for days. No one saw a single demon for over two weeks. It was some sort of a trick; it had to be! We knew the demons would not just give up. They had done too much for that. Then one day, a lone demon appeared. But she was female. No one had seen a female demon and once again the thought of wicked trickery flared in our minds. The demon called to us before she came within striking distance of our arrows and spears. She wanted to speak with the seraph._

"_Against our wishes, the seraph went out to converse with the fiend. Their discourse was brief and upon ending, the demon retreated. The seraph told us of the demon's proposal. Apparently the lead demon was growing irritated. He sanctioned one last fight between both sides. A fight that would determine our fate._

"_It was simply that: a fight. A single fight between the seraph and the commanding demon himself. If the seraph won, the demons would grudgingly leave. If the demon won, the seraph would stop interfering and the human race would be his to destroy. We pleaded to the seraph to not accept the foolish proposal. The fiend would surely cheat! But no matter how much we had pleaded, she accepted the demon's terms._

"_The day of the battle was a tense one. Over three dozen of our greatest and most experienced warriors accompanied her that fateful day. It was a stipulation we had worked hard for her to accept. There too, was about the same number of the demon's _greatest warriors. As the seraph made her way to the clearing that had been felled especially for the occasion, the demon revealed himself.

"He was a sickly creature with violet skin, and long black claws. From his head protruded two long twisting horns that gleamed with a dark gray light, and from his back two bat-like wings with clawed joints were held steady. His blood-red eyes glowed with a brutality that struck fear in both human and demon alike.

"And so, the battle began. It was fierce and endured for many hours with neither seraph nor demon gaining an upper hand. They had struck each other with heavy blows after heavy blow, drawing blood. At first it had seemed as if the seraph would win as she unleashed her telepathic attack and the demon fell to his knees. She launched herself at him with her bladed-staff raised above her head to come crushing down on his. But he overcame her mental assault and dodged just in time. Livid, the demon rushed recklessly at her. His careless attack gave her an opportunity to strike. She was able to sidestep him, and as she did, she swung her staff at him. Her blade struck true. An agonizing cry was shrieked and the demon once again found himself on his knees holding his bleeding face.

"The seraph had blinded him.

"Once again she attacked, but even in his state the demon retaliated. He was able to grasp her staff, and pulled it away from her. Shocked, the seraph decided to strike from above, and launched herself into the air. As she came down, the demon blindly swung the staff toward the sound of her beating wings. She attempted to pull out of her dive, but was too late. Careening to one side she avoided being impaled, but instead suffered another fate.

"The demon had blinded her as well.

"Both creatures continued their battle as best they could, but it was a horrid sight. In the end, both of them fell. At the exact same time, the seraph and demon collapsed. And at the exact same time, their hearts stopped beating. Neither had lost, and neither had won.

"Demons and humans alike simply stared. In the air was more than shock…there was a sudden sense of incredulity and confusion. What would either side do without their leader? Instead of attacking each other, humans and demons retreated, taking the body of their fallen commander with them. As the demons returned to their realm, we were once again pitied by the gods, or so it was thought.

"Another angel was sent amongst us. We rejoiced, but the angel's presence was not to aid us in battle. He had come to retrieve the seraph's lifeless body and return to the celestial realm. However, upon seeing our plight, the angel decided to turn away from his orders so that he could help us close the gateway. We were told by the angel that he could help us seal the rift that had formed between the worlds.

"Despite his good intentions, we knew that his kind act would require a great sacrifice. We did not know what that sacrifice was, but humanity was ready to do what it took to ensure our own survival.

"In order to seal the break, he would have to use the will of both fallen creatures: demon and seraph. His method left us in confusion. But both were dead, were they not? He then explained to us that he could retrieve their now wandering spirits and use them to bring peace to earth. It would take massive concentration and mental power to seek out and find two lost souls among the thousands that wandered the underworld. The attempt could even end the life of the aiding angel.

"Before either heaven or hell could realize what was about to transpire, the angel set himself into a deep meditative state. After three excruciating days, he opened his eyes. In that moment the seraph's body began to glow and from her chest sprang a beam of radiance that coalesced into an undulating sphere hovering above her. Undoubtedly, the same had happened with the demon that lay in the demon's realm. Suddenly, the sphere darted out of the room and headed in the direction of the aperture.

"Little is known as to what happened afterwards. It _is _known that the angel followed the sphere, and disappeared into the trees. It is clear that the angel succeeded because after that day demons were never seen again. However, the angel himself never returned. The body of the seraph disappeared without notice and we were once again in control of our world.

"After many months, we mustered up the courage to return to the gateway. Upon arriving we saw no evidence that there had ever been a rift, but the massive archway that had framed it still remained. That very day, it was decided that the archway had to be destroyed. But to the dismay of us all, it could not. It was made of a black stone that we could not so much as scratch. If it could not be destroyed, then it would be hidden. Our ancestors worked day and night to build around it a massive temple that would seal it away.

"The temple still stands today, but one must not venture near it. It is the very symbol of disaster and affliction. A memory that is best left only in lore."

As the story ended, Julia and Verity were left speechless. Brock had been right, the story itself held a strange magnificence but it was quite fearsome. It had been spoken in a way that made it seem real, as if there truly had been demons and angels inhabiting the world.

"Wow. That is all I can say. Just wow," whispered Verity as slowly the people began to leave.

"Incredible. And they believe that the temple really exists?" Julia questioned as she began to stand.

"Yeah. They say that it's only a few miles from here, but I've never been there. The natives won't let us anywhere near _that_ temple. We only get to study the one that ancient priests left behind. It's in the opposite direction of the Gateway temple, so we can't exactly pretend to accidentally wind up in the 'wrong' temple. As much as I'd love to look for it, I'm not going to defy the wishes of the tribe, one temple is good enough for me," Brock commented.

"We'd better get to bed Jules. We get to go see the Priest temple for the first time tomorrow!"

"Give our regards to the chief Brock. Ver and I really loved the story! We can't wait to hear others," Julia said as she and Verity left the gathering hut and headed back to their room.

"Of course."

____________________________________________________________________

Sitting on the roof of the bungalow, only a few feet from the smoke opening, a dark figure watched as the newcomers retired to their room. His golden eyes followed every move they made.

_----They are dangerous, boy. I can sense their spirits. They will stop at nothing until they figure out if the temple exists. You must give them a reason to fear it as healthily as the other humans do._

"Be quiet demon. Why must you pester me with your thoughts? They aren't dangerous. They are just a couple of adventurous girls whose imaginations have been rendered active by the stories of an old man. Leave. Me. Alone!" whispered the figure fiercely at the unmanned voice inside his head.

_----No. --You must…_

"Be Quiet! Why do you care if they find it or not?! Even if they do, it is only a weathered building of stone that no human can enter. The only reason I can is because I can fly to the opening near the top of it and get in that way."

_----….._

"Thank you for shutting up," the figure muttered in a biting tone.

----_You will regret not listening to me, Jin. _the demon chided.

"Go to Hell," came the blunt response.

_----Been there, done that. I prefer manipulating weak humans here on Earth._

"Too bad you got stuck with me, huh?"

_----Go to Hell. _rebutted the demon.

"You wish," hissed Jin as he spread his onyx wings and soared into the forlorn night.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

a/n: Ta da! Jin finally makes his official appearance!

Please review!! I'd love to know what you guys think so far (tell me if its good/bad/great/horrible, Any suggestions for making it any better? They're gladly welcome)


	5. Search

Disclaimer: I don't own Tekken

Search

As he reached his hideout, a cave nearly entirely hidden by greenery, Jin landed and pulled back his wings until they were completely gone. Having the ability to instantaneously sprout wings and fly definitely beat having to walk through the dense trees and ferns that nearly completely enveloped the ground. It did have its disadvantages though: he had to either constantly dodge trees or fly over the canopy. Since he couldn't risk being seen through satellite imagery (Jin knew his father was still raking the globe for him) he could only fly above the canopy at night. During the day he was restricted to evading trees.

As he settled into bed, Jin's mind wandered to the archeologists' new recruits, Julia in particular.

_Of all of the people who could have gotten lucky enough to wind up here, it had to be Julia Chang. I have to be more careful than usual; she's very perceptive. She noticed me watching her and her friend earlier today and was even fast enough to catch a glimpse of me. Thank God she didn't recognize me. The last thing I need is to be discovered._

Turing over onto his stomach, Jin tried to get some sleep. However, his mind was not cooperating. As the minutes dragged by, he began to think of more than just Julia's reason for being in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. Slowly the image of her sitting, listening to the chief's mystic voice and Stryker's translation, began to find it's way into his thoughts. He saw her long brown and golden-toned hair cascading down her frame in gentle waves until it reached her waist. He saw the captivation in her golden, honey-colored eyes as she heard the supposed legend unfold; her full, ruby lips parted slightly. Julia had the body of a goddess and her tanned skin radiated a soft and soothing light. She was simply perfect. Everything about her seemed to sing utter perfection and beauty. And with that glorious image of her in his mind, Jin finally drifted off into sleep.

__________________________________________________________________

Two weeks later

**

"We could search for the temple at night, but we're more likely to get lost Ver," Julia said as she walked back to the village by means of the muddy trail that connected it to the crumbling edifice of the Priest's Temple.

"How about tomorrow, since it's our 'day off'? We could tell everyone that we're taking a guide and then leave early, while marking our path with string or something," Verity commented as both she and Julia made rickety plans to discover the Gateway Temple.

"Maybe. We'll have to plan this out during lunch. In our room where no one can hear us" Julia commented thoughtfully. She had that same abysmal feeling of being watched and didn't want to think that whatever had observed her on her first day was still following her.

"Yes! About time we actually got to looking for that damned thing!" Verity exclaimed while taking a little jump, "Lets get going."

___________________

_----What did I tell you? They are determined to find fame. If those girls find the temple they will run back to tell the world about the Gateway. That is the last thing we need._

"There are many things we don't need, demon. I for one do not need _you_. Let them search for it, they won't find it. I doubt even the natives could. They are only college students who know little of the Amazon and its perils. To be honest, I'm more worried about them losing their way, getting lost, and winding up at the bottom of a ravine. ---Something that, I must sadly admit, is undoubtedly going to happen if they decide to venture on that ridiculous quest."

----_Worried? You're _worried_? Now why on earth would you be worried for a couple of nosy strangers?_

In the attempt to keep his thoughts to himself, Jin decided it was time to block out the irritating demon and his voice. He didn't need to know about Jin's unexpected fascination with Julia Chang, a girl who he knew only by name.

----_What…What are you doing?! Don't you dare block me out again! I am not some 'thing' that you can just shove into the deepest reaches of your simple mind! Jin! Your fucking basta…_

With immense mental exertion, Jin was able to lock away the demon and his thoughts were once again his own. He couldn't believe that he had let that little comment about their safety slip. Although he had pushed the demon's mind away, Jin knew he would be back. His efforts to lock him away for good had thus far proved ineffective, at least not completely. He could do little more that put him to silence for only two days. Two days of silence that were vitally needed.

God how he wished for the days when the demon's presence had lain dormant and he was just an ordinary kid without a care in the world. But those days were buried in the past, alongside his beloved mother.

Shaking away the melancholic thoughts, Jin deftly maneuvered himself swiftly through the towering trees and returned to the unfrequented region of the jungle.

_________________________

Following Morning

**

"Alright Jules, I've got all my stuff together. How 'bout you?" Verity questioned while pulling tightly on the strings of her knapsack.

"I've _been _done Ver. I don't take nearly as long as you do." Julia patted her bag as Verity looked over.

Smiling, the two of them quickly slipped out of the small lodge and headed out to the jungle. The light was just beginning to peek through the breaks in the expansive canopy and so it was still pretty gloomy. Hacking their way through the dense underbrush, Julia and Verity trudged slowly through the austere yet breathtaking forest. Instead of tying string to the trees as Verity had suggested, they chopped a notch into the majority of the trees that they passed. It was quite exhausting but in addition to their compasses the markings would make the trek back to the village much easier. The day progressed slowly and became so muggy that both Julia and Verity were soon wondering if their search was worth the effort.

After several hours of hiking through impossible terrain, Verity bent over, placed her hands on her knees, and exclaimed, "We gotta stop. I have to rest for at least fifteen minutes. This is harder that I thought!"

Breathlessly, Julia answered, "Much, much harder. A few miles…yeah right. Maybe there isn't a temple at all. We've been out here for five hours and nothing. Not the slightest clue that could tell us we're anywhere near something built by humans."

Collapsing on the ground, Verity put her face in her hands, then reached for her water bottle and took a huge swig.

"You should walk around Ver. Just sitting there after this 'workout' is not a good idea, you'll get cramps in your legs," Julia said wisely as she slowly took a few slow steps towards some large ferns and then walked back.

"Ugh," Verity dragged her legs under her then reached out to grab a branch so she could pull herself up.

Gradually, their labored breathing leveled out, and Verity thought it was safe to collapse again.

"Um…Jules. Was it supposed to rain today?"

"No. I don't think so. Why?" Julia inquired.

"Um…It looks like it's gonna start pouring any minute now," Verity said weakly as she looked up at the sky through the clearing made by the lack of trees near the small stream they had stopped to rest by.

"Oh my God. It does. We have to get out of here, fast," Julia urged as she eyed the heavy clouds looming above them.

Just then, the first of the large raindrops began to fall. At first it seemed as if they would have time to search for a broad-leafed tree to hide under, but the weather was not on that plan. The suddenly inclement weather showed itself as the sparse raindrops began to come down it torrents.

"Run! We have to find shelter quick!" Verity shrieked as she darted away from the opening.

"Way to state the obvious!" Julia retorted cynically as she turned her head to see Verity following about ten feet behind her.

Suddenly, the ground under Julia's feet gave way and she shrieked as she felt herself fall. In her haste to get away from the rain, she had not paid attention to where she was going. If she had, the hundred foot deep trench in front of her would have come into her line of sight quick enough for her to stop. Although it was not a straight drop, the angle of the slope was extreme and dangerously steep.

In an instinctive attempt to stop her fall, Julia threw her hands out in front of herself. The exact moment that her hands touched the slippery mud, she felt a sudden sharp pain jarring through her left arm, and heard a sickening snap. Julia closed her eyes and stopped trying to fight gravity; she wasn't going to win. As she tumbled down the side of the chasm, two more excruciating pangs of agony seared through her body. Followed by yet another sickening snap, the first wave of pain was centered near the shin of her right leg. The second one, she experienced as she hit the bottom of the trench and her head collided with a large muddy stone.

As she faded into unconsciousness, Julia was aware of only three things: First-the torturous pain that coursed throughout her entire body, Second-Verity's faint screams as she called out Julia's name over and over again from the top of the slick ravine, and Third-as the last few seconds passed by - a pair of black, muddy boots.


	6. Savior

Disclaimer: I claim no legal affiliation to Tekken or Namco.

Savior

"Oh my God! Julia! Can you hear me!? JULIA! Oh my God! This can't be happening!" Verity screamed in anguish as she peered over the slick ledge of the ravine, frantically looking for Julia.

"I've got to find a way down! Damn it! Why did it have to start raining!" Verity began to look around for a safer way down the side of the trench.

"Hold on Julia, please hold on!" Verity cried as she followed the edge of the seemingly interminable chasm.

______________________________

_God!… Why…Why is it …so hot?! Somebody… please…do SOMETHING! Stop it…stop…the pain…please…._

________________________________

_----What the Hell is _SHE_ doing here?!_

"You picked a great time to come back…" Jin muttered sarcastically in a rough tone, "Couldn't you have stayed away for a few more hours?!"

_----You didn't answer me. What is that girl doing here!?_

"What does she look like she's doing? Coming over for a sleepover?" Jin snapped at the furious demon.

----_Don't play smart with me, boy. Answer me damn it!_

"She lost her footing near the ledge of the ravine near the temple, and fell. Doesn't it look kind of obvious? Or have you suddenly lost your brilliant powers of deduction?" came the irritated and angry response.

----_Damn you, boy. You should have left her at the bottom! You should have let her DIE! _

_Do you have any idea what is going to happen when she wakes up and sees that _you_, Jin Kazama, is in the middle of the Amazon rainforest watching over her when you should be rotting six feet under! _shouted the incredulous demon.

"I don't care if she does! I'm not going to let her die!"

----_Why don't you just take her back and let her friend deal with her?! When that girl sees that her friend is not where she should be she'll go back to that accursed village and get help. What then? Huh? They'll find the fucking temple and then guarding it will be impossible!_

"I would have. But she's hurt much to badly. I saw Verity run off to find a way down the slope, but the nearest accessible way down is over half a mile away! Julia wouldn't have made it that long. I had to take her. Her left arm and right leg are broken. The bones splintered; they aren't clean breaks and they sliced through her skin and severed several of her veins. I think she has a really bad concussion, too. If I had left her she would have bled to death before Verity made it even half way down the ledge!"

----_You and your damned human compassion! HUMAN compassion! _cried the demon in exasperation, _For crying out loud! You're not even HUMAN! You should know nothing of COMPASSION!_

"Well, luckily for Julia, I feel compassion for the suffering of another living being. If _you _don't give a damn, what are you still doing here?!

_----That girl is not going to make it. I can tell you that right now. No matter what you do, she's going to die. You might as well take her body back to that glorious ravine and thank the fucking rift that she's never going to find the temple._

"The temple, the temple! Is that all you care about!? It's nothing but a bunch of stones piled up to hide a horrific past. I don't care what you say, what you think, or what you feel. I'm saving her and that's that!" snapped Jin fiercely as the demon's wrath emanated from his formless spirit in tidal waves.

----_What are you going to do, oh grand savior? _mocked the demon in a shrill tone.

"I'm going to heal her leg. It's the worst of the breaks," Jin muttered as he walked over to Julia, who was currently unconscious and bleeding on his bed.

----_Heal it? Are you crazy? Now, I know you find your newfound ability to heal yourself as well as others deliciously empowering, but healing a break like that could kill you! You have nowhere near enough 'practice' with healing. It's like trying to drive a fucking eighteen-wheeler after you've just barely learned to ride a bike. A bike _with_ training wheels, I might add!_

"It's not about having practice, demon. I'm going to heal her leg today, and then I'll heal her arm when my strength comes back completely. It's as simple as that. Neither of us is going to die in the process," Jin stated firmly as he finished setting Julia's broken arm. None of the major veins had been severed in her forearm, so Jin didn't have to worry about her bleeding to death that way. Now he just had to hope that her head injury hadn't caused any brain damage. He wouldn't be able to heal her again for at least two days after he took care of her leg.

Looking down, Jin saw that Julia was shaking rather forcefully, and that her skin was burning. She had a fever already and was undoubtedly delirious. Bracing himself for the sudden wave of exhaustion that would follow his healing of her leg, Jin reached down to grab Julia's shin, closed his eyes, and let instinct do the rest.

___________________________________

_Make the pain go away….go away…_

Gasping, Julia suddenly became aware of an overly hot sensation in her right leg. It had been throbbing before, but now it felt as if someone had poured lighter fluid on her leg then thrown a match on it .

_Oh God, no! ….Make it …go away, don't …don't…make it worse!_

However, as suddenly as it had felt like someone had set her shin on fire, the burning went away. Nothing. She felt nothing in her right leg. The searing agony had disappeared and now she no longer felt neither heat nor subconsciously expected cold. Relief swept through her and the pain had lessened enough that she fell into a definite void, where she would no longer feel anything else.

___________________________

_You're wrong demon. She's going to be fine. _Jin smiled gently as he saw Julia's form visibly relax.

___________________________

Sometime later, Julia began to groggily regain consciousness. The first thing she became aware of was a dull throbbing in her left arm. Looking down at it, she saw that it had been placed in a splint.

_What? A splint? Ugh…I must have broken it when I fell. Wait. Where am I? _Julia thought confused.

In the attempt to stand up to take in her surroundings, Julia noticed an odd sensation in her right leg. She remembered feeling a horrible pain in her leg as well as her arm on her fall to the bottom of the trench.

_Great. I must have broken my leg, too. It must be tied up pretty good - I can't even feel it. _

Suddenly it struck her that unless she was on some serious pain medication, which was doubtful since she could feel the dull throb of pain in her arm and her head, she _should _be able to feel it. Hell. It should feel a whole lot worse than her arm.

Panic quickly flooded through her body as she realized that she could not feel her leg. Almost as if she didn't have one at all. As she tried to sit up, pain washed over her. Every muscle ached and the dull throbbing became a sharp knife stabbing her arm as well as her head. Groaning in pain, Julia collapsed back onto the bed she was lying in.

Not one to give up, Julia shut her eyes in pain and tried to pull herself up again, but this time was stopped by a hand that had suddenly gripped her shoulder and was gently pushing her back down.

"You shouldn't try to get up. You're still hurt pretty badly," a deep, double-timbered voice said.

Surprised by the fact that it sounded almost like two people were talking to her at the exact same time, Julia turned her head toward the odd voice.

She froze. Every muscle in her body was suddenly pulled tight, and her breathing had gotten stuck halfway down her windpipe.

Looking down at her were the same glowing golden eyes that she had seen on her first day in the forest. Now, however, there was no tree to obstruct her vision. She was staring at… _JIN KAZAMA??!! _

Only, it wasn't really him. Was it?

This creature definitely looked like him but had several appendages that no normal human being had: From his head, slightly behind his temples, two slick, ivory horns twisted their way forward to point in her direction. His mouth was slightly open as he looked at her with unhindered curiosity. Her expression must have been unfathomable. Julia could see that his canines were longer that any person's should be, and that they were definitely far too sharp. They reminded her of the fangs of a vampire in some terrifying horror movie. Above his eyes, set in the center of his forehead, was a slender crimson jewel that seemed to emanate a weak light - nowhere near as intense as the light from his eyes. From the jewel, extended a series of tattoo-like markings that covered his entire forehead then doubled back to trace a dark like under the outer edges of his golden eyes. Last to catch her attention were the two dark raven-like wings protruding from his back. Her mouth dropped open as she saw that they were enormous. In a few quick moments Julia reasoned that if he were to spread them out they would be at least seventeen feet long from tip to tip.

This was impossible…she couldn't be looking at …a demon?

____________________________

A/n: Whew! Stayed up till 1:46 a.m. to write this chapter! Hope you liked it!

Don't forget to review! XD


	7. In The Arms Of An Angel

Disclaimer: Tekken is not mine

In The Arms Of An Angel

"Easy now. You don't want to hurt yourself," Jin told a startled Julia who was frantically trying to sit up after she had stared at him for nearly two minutes straight, without even blinking. Since she was clearly not going to lie back down, Jin stepped forward to help Julia sit up and lean against the stone wall.

"What…What are you?" Julia managed to choke out after Jin had pulled away.

"_What _am I?" Jin asked, confused. _That was kind of a rude question for her to ask_.

"Yeah. _What _are you?" Julia repeated as she saw his face twist in confusion, "You're not exactly human," she pointed at him, voice trembling, "so what are you?"

"Huh?" Jin said as he looked down at himself.

_Oh shit. I forgot to turn back. I'm still in my demon form._ Jin suddenly realized. He wasn't used to having company so he had not acquired the habit of keeping human when _other _humans were around.

"Um…" Jin said uneasily, "Well…um…" Damn. What was he supposed to say? 'Oh. I'm just your average half-breed demon.' Not likely.

Seeing his apparent uneasiness with the subject Julia stammered, "Never mind…that wasn't very nice of me to ask," she couldn't believe that she was apologizing to a demon. Hell-- She couldn't believe that she was talking to him like he was just another person, and not running for her life (despite the fact that she couldn't feel her leg) like they did in the movies.

"Why don't we start with introductions?" Julia clamored as she fidgeted nervously, while realizing that he wasn't going to hurt her, as unbelievable as that sounded.

"Um…Yeah…lets," Jin replied, relieved that she had not continued to insist on discovering what he was.

Extending her right hand, Julia officially introduced herself, "Julia Chang."

Following her lead, Jin also extended his hand and grasped hers, "Jin Kazama."

_It _is _him. Guess the rumors that he comes from a family that is not entirely human are true. At least it doesn't seem like he wants to kill me._

The feeling of unrepressed fear that had been coursing through Julia's body, seemed to suddenly disappear, instead replaced by the (possibly stupid) feeling of relief at the fact that she was looking at a familiar face.

"I thought so. Just had to be sure though," Julia said with a slight smile as she let go of his hand.

"Yeah. You probably think I'm supposed to be dead or something," Jin said as he rose to his full height and crossed his arms.

"Actually I've been leaning towards the 'he's gone AWOL' explanation to your disappearance," Julia said in a humorous tone.

What an awkward situation. Here she was: sitting up on a queen-sized mattress, bruised and battered, having a conversation with Jin Kazama (who happened to have various extra limbs and did not look entirely human) like they were old friends and there was nothing amiss.

"That's actually pretty close to the real reason," Jin said with a laugh.

Julia looked up at him, mesmerized. He had a magnificent laugh and one heck of a smile, despite the fangs. In fact, despite the astonishing additions, he had one heck of a body.

_Oh boy, what am I thinking_? _I'm starting to sound like Verity._ Before her thoughts wandered off in a rather awkward direction, Julia spoke.

"So, um, how did I wind up here exactly?"

"I found you at the bottom of the ravine after I heard your friend's frantic calls for help. You were pretty beaten up. You broke your arm and your leg, the latter of which severed one of you major arteries. There was no way your friend could do anything to keep you from bleeding to death so I decided to bring you home with me so that I could heal your leg, at least. You hit your head on a rock too, so I was afraid you might have gotten a concussion also." Jin explained as Julia's jaw dropped once more upon hearing how badly injured she had been.

"I was _that _injured? But aside from a throbbing in my arm and my head, and countless muscle aches, (I can't imagine how many bruises I have) I feel fine," Julia said confused, and then a thought struck her, " How long have I been out?" she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Just over two days," Jin replied as he saw her frown in anxiety.

"Two days? That's it?" Julia said, even more confused than before, "But how? I don't understand."

"Well, when I said that I brought you here to heal your leg, I meant that literally. I healed your broken bone and sealed your blood veins as well as your torn skin," Jin said warily as her eyes grew wide.

"You _healed _my leg?" Julia repeated incredulously.

"Yeah. That's the reason you probably can't feel it right now, am I wrong?" he said while gesturing at her leg.

Reaching down to feel her recently damaged limb, Julia nodded silently. _He healed my leg…but that should be impossible. Then again it should be impossible that there are such things as demons in this world. This is crazy!_

"Don't worry. You should get feeling back rather quickly now that you're awake," Jin assured her.

"Thank goodness. I was beginning to think that I'd lost my leg entirely," Julia said while running the back of her right hand across her forehead, "Oh. And…as for saving me. I…don't know how to thank you," gratitude evidently lacing her voice as she looked up at him.

"Don't worry about it. The fact that you're still alive is enough for me ," he replied sincerely, "I couldn't just watch you die knowing that I could have done something to help you."

"Wait. You said you healed my leg, but you didn't do me the favor of healing my arm as well?" Julia questioned good-naturedly after a few moments of grateful silence.

"There's a reason for that," Jin responded.

"Which is…what?"

"My ability to heal others is…limited."

"How so?"

"It is …ridiculously difficult to heal someone. Taking care of your leg left me exhausted straight up through entire day yesterday. I finally felt normal this morning." Jin elucidated.

"Really?" Julia shifted a bit while gazing at the enthralling being standing before her. If her belief in guardian angels had been somewhat fuzzy before, it was now as clear as day.

_There _are _such things as angels. _Julia thought _And right now I'm sitting in front of one. (A rather contradicting-looking one, but an angel nonetheless.)_

"Yes. And if you'd like, I could heal your arm right now. I know it sucks to have broken bones," Jin offered with a smile.

"But won't that make _you _feel terrible?" Julia questioned.

"No. Just a little tired at most. After getting a better look at it I realized that the break in your arm is actually quite clean and nowhere near as bad as the one in your leg was. So…would you like me to? "

"Well, yeah. That would be amazing," Julia grinned. "This sure beats having to wait for my arm to heal on its own. I hate casts."

"Don't we all," Jin laughed while sitting down next to her, "Alright. Give me your arm." Julia complied, gingerly lifting her arm and placing it in his hands while wincing.

"What now?" Julia asked.

"I let instinct take over," Jin looked at her with an apologetic expression, "It is going to hurt for a little bit though. I've been told it's like being set on fire, I'm afraid."

"Well, get on with it then. No need to kill me with the wait," she said with a hint of nervous humor.

Julia looked over at Jin and saw him close his eyes. Before she could contemplate on how attractive he was, a searing pain shot through her arm. Indeed, it was like being set on fire. Julia shrieked as she felt the heat going up her arm towards her shoulder. However, just as quickly as her arm had caught fire, it was put out. Pulling the splint off of her forearm, Julia was amazed to see not even a single scratch. But like her leg, she couldn't feel it. Great. Looking over at Jin, Julia noticed that he was holding his head between his hands.

"Are you okay Jin?" Julia said in a worried tone.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little dizzy." He looked over at her and gave her yet another smile, "How's it feel?"

Laughing Julia responded, "Wonderful, considering I can't feel it at all!"

A few hours later, Julia had regained control of her previously broken limbs. Jin was right. Since she was conscious she'd been able to re-master her dormant muscles faster. She'd asked him if healing her head wound would tire him much. He'd said not at all, but that it was probably a better idea that she keep some sort of injury. She couldn't walk away from a hundred foot fall with little more than a few bruises. He did, however, say he could get rid of the aches of her body, only if she could pretend to be battered and in pain when she went back. Of course, she agreed and now the worst injury she had was the one on her head, near her left temple.

Both Jin and Julia found it amazing how easily they could just sit and talk each other. In just a few hours they'd learned as much as they could about the other and it almost seemed as if they'd been friends for years. They recounted their childhood stories, and remarked on how incredible it seemed that despite the fact that they had been in the same King Of Iron Fist Tournaments, they'd never really met.

"So you're really not at all disturbed by the fact that I'm not exactly human? That I'm sitting right next to you with wings, horns, fangs, and eyes that look like they belong to some wild animal?" Jin asked for the third time.

"No Jin. I'm not. So quit asking! You're just like everyone else, except for the fact that you have wings, horns, fangs and eyes that look like they belong to some wild animal," Julia giggled as she repeated his description of himself, "I have a question though."

"Which would be…?" Jin inquired.

"Are you always in that…um… form?"

"No. Of course not. Have you ever seen me with wings in the ring? No," Jin said comically, "It's just more convenient to be in this form around here. It beats having to walk all over the place."

"That's for sure," Julia said with a grin and then asked another random question, "Can you make individual 'appendages' go away?"

"Yeah. Here, watch," Jin turned his head toward her and she gasped when she saw that he was pulling his ivory horns back into his head. He smiled and she laughed. As he saw her laugh, Jin was suddenly overcome by a powerful emotion. The sound of her voice was enchanting, and her smile revealed her beauty in one of the most awe-inspiring ways. Slowly, he pulled himself closer to Julia. When she stopped laughing she turned to look at him, and was surprised at his sudden proximity. Looking into his golden eyes, Julia felt a strange sensation tugging at her heart. Jin's lips unexpectedly looked…delicious. Slowly the two of them drew closer to each other, and after a moment's hesitation, their lips met.

The gentle kiss sent an electrifying feeling through both of them and their kiss became deeper. The slow kisses steadily increased in fervor and passion bloomed. Their tongues met and Julia reached up to grab hold of his dark hair and pull him even closer. Jin's mouth moved from Julia's and ran down her neck. Julia moaned and felt Jin tugging at her jacket to take it off. She briefly let go of him and yanked off her obtrusive jacket. Slowly the two of them sank into Jin's bed, feeling an immense heat between them. Their hands began to explore one another and they let themselves be swept away by the sweet taste of ecstasy.

******

The following morning, Julia awoke and found Jin still asleep, his arm wrapped around her slender waist. Smiling, she snuggled in closer to him and felt his arm hold her tighter.

"Good morning Sweetheart," Jin whispered into her ear.

"Good morning," Julia said melodiously, "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I've actually been awake for a while."

"No you haven't. You were still sleeping when I woke up," Julia said while turning over to face him.

"No I wasn't. I just had my eyes closed," Jin gazed at her while smiling, "It doesn't really matter though, we're both up now." He pulled Julia close and gave her a slow kiss. Suddenly Jin stiffened and he sat up in bed quickly.

"Jin? What's wrong?" Julia asked as she sat up as well.

"Oh, nothing," Jin tried to be casual.

"Liar. You're trying to hide something. What?" Julia questioned.

"You're quite perceptive aren't you?"

"It has nothing to do with perception, although my mom always said that nothing could get by me. But that's not the point, what's wrong?"

"Please don't get me wrong, but you have to go back," Jin replied hesitantly, "Now."

"What? Why?" Julia demanded.

"Please trust me Julia. Get up and get dressed. I'll fly you back until I find a place where I'm sure you can find your way to the village," Jin implored quietly.

Julia didn't want to leave, but the look in Jin's eyes sent chills down her spine so she agreed. Jin flew her over to a small beach near the main river and told her to follow it south. After a few miles she'd reach the docks and from there she just had to follow the road back to the village. After promising that he would explain everything later, Jin gave a quick but passionate kiss.

"Wait! What am I supposed to tell everyone as to where I've been for the past three days?" Julia said suddenly as the thought popped into her head.

"I don't know…claim amnesia or something. You've got the head wound to back it up," Jin suggested quickly. Julia could tell that he had to leave so she left it at that.

"I'll think of something before I get to the docks. Don't worry. I'll see you around then?" Julia said apprehensively.

"Yeah. I'll make sure to run into you," Jin said with a eager smile.

"Bye then," Julia bit her lower lip.

"Later." Jin then spread his massive wings and disappeared into the jungle.

After peering into the trees after him, Julia turned around and started to walk down the riverbank.

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Wow. I am on a roll this week. I wrote this chapter right after I finished the last one. Meaning I stayed up till five in the morning sitting in front of my computer screen. Hee Hee…XD

Thanks to those who've reviewed so far!

To the rest of you : Review! Review!


	8. Confidante

Disclaimer: Tekken ain't mine. :(

Confidante 

"What really happened Julia?" Verity questioned as the shadows of the night announced the end of the eventful day and the two of them prepared to go to sleep.

Julia had made it safely back to the village, a fact that had everyone reeling. Brock and the other archaeologists had gone into a frenzied search for Julia after Verity had returned and told them what had happened. They couldn't believe how stupid they had been at believing that they could navigate the treacherous forest on their own. When she had shown up, alive, they were all stunned. To the foreigners, it was a miracle; to the natives, it was extremely suspicious. They could tell right away, with uncanny certainty, that something wasn't right.

"I already told you. I can't remember. All that I know is that one moment I was falling and the next I was waking up on the muddy riverbank," Julia repeated for the millionth time. She was suddenly regretting sticking to the story that she had amnesia. Although the other archeologists were too relieved with knowing that Julia was safe and sound to bother her with the details of her return, the tribes people didn't seem to accept her story as true. And neither did Verity.

"I don't believe you Julia. You've always sucked at lying to me. I know you too well," Verity stated with a disapproving frown.

_She's got me cornered_. Julia thought grimly as she pulled back the sheets to her bed and gingerly set herself down.

"I'll get it out of you somehow, whether now or later. You might as well spill the beans Jules," Verity threatened as she sat down at the foot of her bed and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing.

After Julia did not respond, Verity continued to insist. "Julia! For goodness' sake. Tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to, but I have to know what happened to you. If something bad happened to you while you were out there it need to know. I feel as if it's my fault. I left you out there by yourself. I didn't look for you long enough. I shouldn't even have gone looking for an easier way down--I should have jumped down after you!"

"Verity please! Don't blame yourself. Actually if you hadn't taken off, I probably _would _be dead right now!" Julia exclaimed frantically as her best friend suddenly looked like she wanted to grab something heavy and start beating herself over the head with it.

"What?" Verity turned to Julia with astonishment, "What is that supposed to mean?"

_I'm gonna have to tell her._ Julia thought nervously while her heart began to beat faster.

"I'll tell you. But you have to promise to keep your mouth shut, no matter what."

"Of course," Verity sighed, "What happened after you fell Jules?"

"Someone found me," Julia stated simply.

"Someone found you? Who?"

"The last person I would have expected to see here."

"Julia! Stop talking in riddles. You know I hate that. Just get to the point," Verity walked over to the foot of Julia's bed as Julia sat up, readjusting her pillow so she could lean comfortably on the wall at the head of her bed.

After a moment's deliberation, she answered, "A demon."

"A demon. Right. And I'm the queen of England," Verity said bitterly as she stood back up. _The girl has lost her mind if she thinks a lame story like that is going to convince me._ "If you weren't going to tell me anything, why did you get my hopes up?" she spat.

"Verity. I'm being serious," Julia said fiercely, "I know it sounds ridiculous…"

"Ridiculous?? It's a hell of a lot more than that. I think you hit your head harder than we thought."

"Verity!"

"Julia!"

Seeing that slowly easing her into the subject wasn't going to work, Julia decided to give her a fast monotonous recap. If she believed it or not…well…it would be Verity's problem.

"Fine. I hope you've got your ears ready. Here goes: After I fell, a demon found me lying at the bottom of the ravine. He was attracted to the sound of your shouts for help and was curious. He took me back to his place after seeing that if he left me alone I would bleed to death long before you got to me. Apparently the fall had broken my left forearm and my right leg. My shin was split into slivers and those slivers cut straight through my major arteries. At a great expense to himself, he healed my broken leg and sealed my veins, as he put it. I was out cold for two days, and when I woke up I finally saw him. At first I was terrified, in shock. Even more shocking was the fact that I recognized him.

"I was staring at Jin Kazama. Like I said: the last person I had expected to ever see here.

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors that claim that the Mishimas aren't exactly human. Well…they're true. After he saw that I had gotten over my initial shock, he healed my arm and told me that it would be numb for a few hours. After spending the day regaining control of my limbs and talking to him I realized that he wasn't such a bad guy. Troubled no doubt, but a really nice man. There was something about him that I just couldn't deny, and I slept with him. This morning he brought me back to the riverbank and told me to follow it to the docks. I walked the road back to the village and well…you know the rest…as you can see I couldn't exactly tell the real version of the story without being shipped back home to be taken to some brain surgeon or even worse…a shrink," Julia concluded quickly as she sat playing with the ring of her left hand's forefinger.

Verity simply stared at her with incredulous blue eyes. Her mouth was wide open and if it had gone any further down it would have somehow scraped the floor.

"Well you said to get straight to the point didn't you?" Julia said with a frown.

A few minutes later, after sitting in complete silence, Verity responded simply and without emotion, "Prove it."

"Prove it?"

"Yeah. Prove it! Or I'll go tell everyone that you need to go back home because I think you _really do_ have some serious brain damage."

"Are you handing me an ultimatum?"

"Yes. Doesn't that seem a little obvious? Surely someone as smart as you can recognize that." Verity glared.

Julia gaped at her friend, and answered, "How am I supposed to do that exactly…huh…prove it?""I don't know…you're the genius here. Think."

"I guess that the saying 'seeing is believing' rings true for you, huh?" Julia said while putting her face in her hands.

"Always has," Verity retorted.

Running her hand through her hair, Julia closed her eyes and thought. _Seeing is believing, seeing is believing.---- Ugh! This is ridiculous. Why can't she just believe me!?_

"Will you accept my story as reality if I take you to go meet Jin?" Julia finally said, no knowing what else to say to convince her.

"Of course. Take me to go see your demon lover," Verity threw her hands up in ridicule, "Lover? God Julia, I don't believe it. Lover? That'll be one hell of a story to look back on won't it? You gave yourself up to a _demon_," she shook her head.

Blushing, Julia looked away. She had hoped that she'd said that part of the story quick enough for Verity not to catch it. _Looks like I'm not the only one who's overly perceptive._ Julia thought.

"So. Where are we supposed to 'meet' your beloved?" Verity scoffed.

"Um…I…don't know…" Julia said blankly as the problem was presented. Jin had said _he _would run into _her_, but there had been no talk over how _she _was supposed to get a hold of _him._

"Really?" Verity raised a dubious eyebrow.

After a moment an idea sprang into her brain, and Julia spoke, "The pond!"

"The pond?" Verity repeated confused.

"That's where I first saw him…remember the yellow eyes in the tree? That was him! Maybe if we go there he'll show up," Julia elaborated as the realization dawned upon her.

Shaking her head again Verity sighed, "Fine. Lead the way." _Maybe when she sees that nothing is there she'll get it through her head that she was just delirious. There are no such things as demons. _

The young women put out their lights, and silently got dressed. When the coast was clear, they snuck out of their room and made their way to the trail that lead to the spring-fed pond. Upon arriving, Verity looked at Julia and asked, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Wait I guess," Julia sat down near the edge of the crystalline water and Verity followed suit.

Silently they sat there for at least two hours. Verity was becoming increasingly impatient. She didn't want to wait here all night for the make-believe creature of Julia's imagination, she wanted to sleep. Just as she was about to object to their stakeout, Verity heard a noise that sounded like the flapping of wings. Julia stood up and turned to look in the direction of the rustle.

"Jin? Is that you?" Julia said quietly as she scanned the tree branches above their heads. Verity looked at Julia and frowned. _It's just a bird…why would she think it's her new 'boyfriend'? Wait…Julia thinks this 'Jin' is a demon, and according to the legends of the tribe, almost all demons have wings. Great. She's getting her ideas for this guy from myths and modeling them to fit the face of a missing billionaire. Just. Great._

"Jin? Please come down. I know it's kind of strange for me to have Verity here with me but I had to tell her the truth about what happened. She's my best friend. I can't lie to her, but the only way she'll believe me is if she meets you," Julia spoke to the shadows, but the shadows said nothing.

"Jules. There's nothing here. Let's just go back. I won't tattle on you but stop making things up," Verity told her friend with a small whine.

"So she doesn't believe you?" suddenly spoke a deep disembodied voice. Verity froze; her eyes widened as she continued to stare at Julia.

"Jin!" Julia said happily, "Where are you? Come down!"

"I'm not sure your friend can handle that," replied the layered voice, with a hint of disappointment.

Snapping out of her motionless state, Verity turned to look up at the darkness, "Are you calling me a chicken?" she said between clenched teeth; he had stuck a soft spot with his comment. _**Nobody**_ called her chicken…

"Of course not. It's just that not everyone stays… conscious… when they see me," replied the voice.

"_Julia _manage to keep her eyes open. If she went as far as sleeping with you, I'm positive you're not that scary," Verity retorted. _Let's see this idiot for who he really is…a fraud…_

"So you told her _everything_, eh?" said the voice in an amused tone.

"A quick summary of everything…um…yes," Julia replied with obvious embarrassment, "I accidentally let it slip and was hoping that little detail would escape her attention but it looks like she's rather…"

"Perceptive," the voice finished for Julia, "Just like you. Only you're a little more keen."

"Enough with the criticism! Show yourself!" Verity shouted with exasperation at the tree.

"Alright, alright. Brace yourself, here I come," the figure jumped down from the tree and landed in the halo of light that was cast down by the full moon. Turning toward Verity, Jin crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side, waiting for Verity's reaction.

"Oh. My. God." Verity managed to choke out, "He…really is…a…_demon!_" She took several steps backward and ran into a tree.

"Verity?" Julia extended her arm out to her friend, "Don't be scared. He's…"

"Don't be scared?!" Verity exclaimed, "Look at him Jules! Have you gotten a good look at him?!"

"Verity…" Julia said concerned.

"She's gotten a _really_ good look at me, remember Verity?" Jin insinuated.

"Jin!" Julia expressed with mortification. If there had been any proper light, she was sure she'd look as red as a beet.

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself," he said with a teasing smile. Turning to Verity, he eyed her evident discomfort, "Maybe I should go. I think I may be too much for her."

"No, please don't go. You still have to explain to me about this morning," Julia pleaded as she grabbed one of Jin's arms.

"You are _not_ too much for me. I can handle this as easily as Julia does. Don't think for even a second that I'm a coward," Verity firmly declared as she straightened up and stuck her chin in the air in defiance.

"I'm not," Jin replied plainly, "Maybe we should properly introduce ourselves, before we go throwing insults, compliments, or neither," extending his hand with an amused smile on his, "Jin Kazama."

"Verity Hartley," she said with her head still held high, and shook his hand.

Jin turned to Julia and, with the smile still on his face, said, "I like your friend Jules. She's a strong willed person."

"She always has been," she laughed, still holding onto his arm.

Hoping that it was not an embarrassing a subject, Verity asked, "So…you were supposed to give Jules some sort of explanation for something about this morning?"

"Yes. You are. Why did I have to leave in such a rush this morning? What happened?" Julia inquired.

"I…had to confront another demon."

"Another demon?"

"Wait, there are more of you?" Verity said flabbergasted.

"Not many, but yes."

"What did he want?" Julia said worriedly.

"_She_ wanted to warn me that the demons who are hunting me are getting desperate. They are apparently thinking about getting a hold of a tracking demon who could find me and bring me in."

"You're being hunted!?" Julia gasped.

"Unfortunately. It's one of the reasons I disappeared in the middle of the last tournament. You know the first legend you two heard when you got here?" the girls nodded, "Well, it's no legend. It's true. There really is a gateway, and apparently I'm the key to opening it. Hence, the reason why I've become number one on various hit lists. For the last few months I've escaped them numerous times, solely due to the fact that I'd been warned beforehand. The demoness that dropped by today has been my early-warning/detection system. The hunting demons move too quickly for me to sense them with enough time to make a clean getaway," he summed up.

"How does she know when they're going to strike?" Verity asked.

"Well, she works with them," Julia and Verity gasped, "Her mistress is on the inside of the whole 'undertaking' and sends her out to make sure I know when they're coming. I still don't know why, but I'm grateful. Otherwise right now, we'd probably be on the verge of a cataclysmic apocalypse," he said solemnly.

"Oh my God," Verity and Julia said at the same time.

"The two of you look tired, and I know this is a lot to take in, so I think it would be a good idea if you went back to the village to get some rest," Jin noted.

"That sounds like a _really_ good idea," Verity yawned, "Let's go Jules. I'm never going to doubt you again, I swear."

"I don't know…I'm kind of jittery. I don't feel like sleeping right now," Julia sighed.

"Well if you don't feel like sleeping, I'm sure we can come up with something to do that will leave you sleeping until noon tomorrow," Jin suggested mischievously as he slid his arms around Julia's waist from behind and pulled her to him.

"Whoa there! I do _not _want to know what nighttime activity the two of you will be embarking upon, so please wait until I'm out of hearing range," Verity said quickly and began to walk away.

"Cover for her, would you?" Jin called after her.

"Sure, Sure. Whatever," Verity said in a disbelieving voice.

"Jin. What was that for? Are you trying to kill me of embarrassment?" Julia whispered appallingly.

He chuckled, "No. Of course not. But I was trying to get her to leave as quickly as possible."

"What for?" Julia questioned, although she had a pretty good idea.

"What do you think?" he whispered in her ear, then placed a kiss on her neck.

"I think I can guess," she said with a giggle, as she felt him slide his hand under her t-shirt. She shivered.

"Good," Jin grinned, then abruptly reached to pick her up by wrapping one arm around her legs and the other around her shoulders.

"Jin! What are you doing?" Julia gasped.

"I'm going to show you a place where we can go have some fun. We can't do it here," he said teasingly.

"Do _what _exactly?" Julia asked curiously with an impish smile.

"Whatever you want," he replied and gave her a fervent kiss, "Hold on," Jin warned as he spread his wings and took off into the luminous night sky.


	9. Goodbye

**Do I really have to do this all the time? Disclaimer: Tekken belongs to Namco Bandai, not me**

**Goodbye**

********

**Five Weeks Later**

********

"**Jules. Wake up," Jin whispered to Julia as he gave her a gentle shake.**

"**I don't want to," came the drowsy response. Julia tightened her hold on Jin's waist as he tried to pull away to look at her properly. "No…don't move. You're my pillow remember?" she complained as she buried her face in his chest.**

"**I've got to get you back, Jules. The sun is rising, and you're supposed to be up early, packing, remember?" Jin said with a smile.**

"**I don't want to go back. I want to stay here. Can I? Please?" Julia begged in a child-like voice.**

"**Jules, you're leaving today. You know I don't want you to but you have to," Jin sighed.**

"**Why does time have to fly by when you want it to go by as slowly as possible? Snail's-pace would be good," she muttered as she absentmindedly traced the outlines of Jin's abdominal muscles with her finger.**

**Jin chuckled, "Yeah. That would be nice. The nights would be longer," he kissed the top of her head.**

"**But so would the days," she countered, "That would be even worse. It would mean more time away from you."**

"**Guess we'll have to get used to it. Just for a while though," Jin said sadly.**

"**Ugh…don't remind me. Can't you come with me?" Julia asked while looking up at his face.**

"**You know I can't sweetheart. It's too great a risk," he stared at the ceiling and they both fell silent as they listened to the forest begin to wake.**

**After spending nearly every night with each other for the past five weeks, both Jin and Julia had been dreading that day: the day Julia and Verity would have to leave the Amazon and go back home to Phoenix. They still didn't know how they were going to handle it. As if time was having fun with them, the last few days (and nights) had gone by much too quickly. Although they didn't know how, the two lovers knew they would see each other again. Maybe when the demons and his father stopped hunting him, Jin would be able to re-enter society and take his relationship with Julia further. Maybe…but who knew how long that would take. It was a heart wrenching thought to contemplate.**

**Before she could fall asleep again, Jin spoke to Julia, "Come on love, get up. Do you want something to eat?"**

"**Ugh…no. I think I still have that stomach-flu bug from last week and everything sounds very unappetizing right now," Julia shook her head with a slightly nauseous look on her face.**

"**You'll be fine in no time, don't worry," Jin assured her as he pulled out of her warm embrace. He quickly got dressed and then went to get himself something to snack on. Julia sluggishly stood up and picked up her clothes, just as slowly putting them on.**

"**Jin! … You ripped my t-shirt!" Julia said in disbelief as she fingered the ripped seam that went from the bottom all the way up to the sleeve. **_**I knew I heard a weird ripping sound last night as he pulled it off.**_

"**I ripped your t-shirt?" Jin repeated with an amused smile. **_**Talk about a rough night…oops.**_

"**Look at it," she turned to him and showed him her shirt, "You wouldn't happen to have a needle and some string lying around somewhere would you?" **

"**Ah…lemme think…No. I've never needed any before, actually, so I don't have any. Not that I'd be any good at sewing anyway…Sorry," he said sheepishly.**

"**Great." Julia muttered darkly.**

"**You can borrow one of mine if you want," he said trying to remedy the situation, although he certainly didn't mind seeing Julia standing there in only her bra and jeans.**

"**Well then what are you waiting for? Hand it over," she said extending her right hand. He found a black t-shirt of his and placed it in her outstretched hand. She quickly slipped it on and then put her hair in a low ponytail and slipped on her shoes.**

**Jin took Julia back to the village and said that the coast was clear. If anyone was awake, they were still inside so no one would see her sneaking back in.**

"**I'm going to miss you Jin," Julia said as she felt tears beginning to pool in her eyes.**

"**I'm going to miss you too, Jules," Jin pulled her into one last hug, "Don't cry, please.""Sorry, I can't help it…I've been kinda emotional lately," she apologized.**

"**I've noticed. Here, I want you to have this," Jin said while pulling something out of his pocket. He reached for her hand and placed a silver chain with a rectangular silver charm about an inch long and half an inch wide. A Japanese character was engraved into it in black ink.**

"**What does it say?" Julia asked as she ran her forefinger over the mysterious symbol.**

"**It's my first name in Japanese," Jin stated, "I've had it lying around for a while, but I never wear it. Might as well give it to you as a 'we'll meet again' gift," he smiled.**

"**Thank you. I love it," Julia wrapped her arms around Jin's neck and kissed him.**

"**You'd better get going." **

"**Until next time then." **

"**Until next time. I love you," Jin whispered into her ear.**

**Beaming, Julia responded, "I love you too."**

**___________________**

"**We're going to miss all of you guys a lot!" Verity said emotionally as she bid her new "family" adieu.**

"**You made us feel so welcome here I think we can consider this place a second home," Julia said to the chief as Brock translated.**

"**He says to not doubt that for a single moment," Brock smiled, "I personally would like to thank both of you for your hard work and youthful insight into everything. If you keep up that attitude (and don't go doing stupid things) I'm sure you'll both make it far."**

**Julia laughed; fiddling with the new accessory that adorned her neck, "We'll be sure to keep that in mind, and again …thank…you…" she finished weakly.**

**Julia suddenly felt very odd, and noticed that the world began to spin. A shadow began to veil her vision; it slid silently over her eyes like thick black ink.**

"**Julia? Are you okay?" someone said. However, Julia didn't have time to respond as she passed out and fell to the ground.**

**A few minutes later, Julia regained consciousness and found everyone surrounding her with worried looks on their faces.**

"**What happened Julia?" Brock asked concernedly.**

"**I…don't know," she shook her head slightly.**

"**I told you this would happened if you didn't eat anything Jules," Verity scolded.**

"**Sorry…I just didn't have much of an appetite," Julia stood up, "I'm okay now. Really. We'd better get going, we've got a long trip ahead of us."**

"**You sure Jules?" Verity looked at her, brows furrowed.**

"**Yes. I'm sure. Bye everyone. I'll miss you all," Julia gave a final goodbye and both she and Verity walked to the Jeep to start their lengthy trip to Arizona.**


	10. Attacked

Disclaimer: I can only wish to own Tekken

A/n: This story is FAR from over…Here we go!

And the plot thickens…XD

Enjoy!

Attacked

"Home Sweet Home," Julia said happily. She hadn't realized just how much she missed her cozy little apartment. It was pretty small- it had two small bedrooms, one small bathroom, and the living room and kitchen were separated only by a countertop. The cream colored walls were very warm and gave Julia a sense of security. But despite the fact that she had lived by herself since she started college a few years ago, she suddenly felt very lonely.

Reaching up to grab the chain around her neck Julia sighed, "Jin…I miss you so much already. I don't think I can do this."

She went to her couch and sat down while throwing her car keys on the coffee table. Atticus had made sure her Altima was still there when she got back and she'd just gone to pick up her second set of keys even though she had been home for over a week. Julia propped her feet up on the table and turned the TV on.

"Let's see what's on tonight…something good I hope. I need to distract myself," Julia muttered while flipping through the channels, "No. No. No. No. Ugh! There's nothing on." Julia turned off the television, tossed the remote onto the table and simply sat there staring at the dark screen. Suddenly her stomach grumbled.

_I'm starving. _Julia thought and stood up. _Let's see what's in the fridge…_she made her way to the kitchen.

_Hm…I'm gonna have to ask Atticus how much he paid to restock my fridge with groceries so I can pay him back ASAP. _Julia thought randomly. She decided to have some good ol' oj despite the fact that it was nighttime. Grabbing the bottle of orange juice, she shut the door and turned to grab a cup out of the cupboard. After pouring herself a glass, she grabbed a random cookbook and went into the living room to find something to make herself for dinner.

As she looked up from the book, she saw a dark figure standing a few feet in front of her. Julia dropped her glass and the juice spilled all over the carpet followed shortly by the book.

"Oh my God," Julia choked out as she saw a corpulent demon glaring at her. She felt as if she had been glued to the floor. If she had once thought Jin had been frightening, she didn't know what a true demon really looked like. When he had told her that he actually wasn't very terrifying compared to other demons due to the fact that he was only half demon, she had believed him. However, she hadn't thought there would be _this_ much difference.

This thing looked like one of the monsters out of the movie _Doom_. Its sickly green skin was scaly and had numerous spikes sticking out of its arms. Its wings were enormous and bat-like. In a brief moment of haphazard thought, Julia wondered why Jin's wings were feathered. Its grossly disproportioned head was hideous and it had horns that curled like those of a ram. A snarl escaped its lips and it's blood-red eyes narrowed.

"You are coming with me, human," the demon spat in a crackling voice and drew nearer to her.

Julia found feeling in her legs again and took several steps back, "Stay away! I'm not going anywhere!" she knew screaming would do her no good.

"Whether you want to come or not is none of my concern. I will not be defied. You have no choice," the demon lunged at her.

Julia rolled to one side and nearly ran into the counter. She jumped back up and launched a roundhouse kick at his head. However, he was faster than he seemed and he caught her boot before it made contact with his skull. Throwing her aside, he aimed a backhand punch at her face. The hit sent her crashing into the glass coffee table. Julia felt a searing pain in her left palm and saw a large piece of glass impaled in it. Before she could so much as reach to pull it out the demon grabbed her around the neck.

"You're a feisty human, aren't you? …A pretty one too, eh," he smirked as he got a good look at her face, "I can see how the Resurrector fell for you."

"Just…kill…me now…if…that's what…you want…you fucking bastard!" Julia managed to say while his hand grew tighter around her windpipe. She kicked him, but she might as well have been kicking a wall. It hurt _her _more than him.

He snorted, "Did you not hear what I said human? I'm going to take you. Alive. You're worth more than gold that way. You're worth less than shit if you're dead."

Slowly the lack of air took its toll on Julia. Her lungs were screaming at her, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't force air down her throat. The demon's vice-like grip was too strong. Julia had never felt so helpless in her life. As she felt herself slip into the darkness of the unconscious world, Julia heard another demon.

"What the hell do you think you're doing fiend!? You're not supposed to hurt her, let alone kill her!"

"I'm not going to!" the first demon disputed.

"Let her go. Do you _want _your throat ripped out?!" shrieked the second demon.

The first demon growled but let Julia go. She hit the floor hard and desperately gasped for air.

"I knew that Veldor shouldn't have sent _you_. You're too brutal to bring in any human alive."

"Don't insult me!"

"I will insult you if I feel like it. You are a slum-fiend, so do not dispute my authority!"

"Well then, _my lord_," the demon mocked, "_You _take care of the female." The demon sprang through the open door of the balcony.

Julia was still coughing when she felt the second demon pick her up. She tried to wriggle free but his grip was too tight.

"Don't make me use excessive force, human. Just give up. There's nothing you can do." The demon jumped off of the balcony and sped into the murky sky. Julia was helpless at that point, and with the recent lack of air, she fell unconscious.

Julia woke up sometime later in a cold dark cell.

_Where…where am I?_

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next chapter: "Revelations"**_


	11. Revelations

Disclaimer: Tekken doesn't belong to me.

Revelations

The stone floor was cold, hard and extremely uncomfortable. It may have been smooth, but the marble had a cruel edge to it; being the floor of a prison cell--it had to be.

Julia propped herself up on one sore arm as she finally regained consciousness. Looking around she saw that very little - even less than there was in a standard penitentiary. As she braced herself with her hands to stand up, a shooting pain ran through Julia's left hand forcing her to cry and collapse back down.

"So you're awake," said a harsh but clearly bored voice.

Julia turned toward her captor and saw yet another demon standing with crossed arms on the other side of a wall made entirely of metal bars going up an down from floor to ceiling.

"What…what am I doing here?" Julia demanded as she sat up.

The demon continued to gaze at her with indifferent, orange eyes, "You'll see soon enough. I'll go get Veldor, he's been dying to meet you." The demon walked away.

Ten minutes later a demon even larger than the one who had attacked her at home strolled into view flanked by two other demons. One of them was the clearly-uninterested-in-what-was-going-on guard, and the other was a much smaller cloaked-and-hooded demon. Julia could only see its golden eyes watching her with unrivaled intensity from underneath the shadows of its hood. Judging from its size, she had to be female.

The largest of the demons gave her only a glancing look before turning to the demons standing beside him, "Open the door Haze. Reaper, grab a hold of her and bring her along. This is no place for our guest of honor."

The guard stepped forward and undid the large padlock and pulled on the door. It opened without so much as a creak, and then the hooded demoness stepped forward. She grabbed Julia and whispered into her ear, "Don't try to escape. There are too many of us here for you to get very far." Julia was shocked as to how melodious her voice was; it was nothing like the shrill, discordant tones of the other demons.

"What do you want with me?" Julia questioned as she tried to struggle out of Reaper's grip. But it was hopeless. The demons said nothing else and Reaper was much too strong. After five minutes of being pushed and shoved down numerous hallways lined with cells, Julia was led out of the dungeons and taken to a large office-like room. Reaper walked her over to a seat and pushed her down onto it.

"What do you want with me? What am I doing here?" Julia repeated frantically.

"You are here to help us human." The large demon propped himself against an enormous stone-crafted desk to face her. Julia looked at them incredulously.

_I'm supposed to help them? Now… _"Why the hell would I do something like that!" Julia spat, seeing that being afraid was going to get her nowhere. Maybe the best defense would be a good offense.

"You have no choice…Ms. Chang,"

Julia's jaw dropped, "How do you know my name"The demon chuckled. The noise was like grating metal. A shudder ran through Julia's entire body.

"We know a lot about you Ms. Chang. In fact, we may know more about you than even you do," he smirked. "Now, before you ask again, I am going to tell you what you're doing here, and how you're going to help us. But first, I have to give you some… background information. If you would be so kind as to please not interrupt what I'm going to be telling you, it will make this much quicker."

Julia shifted uncomfortably in the chair she was sitting in.

"Now, where to begin? With the obvious I suppose: introductions," the demon sneered coldly, "My name is Veldor. I am the leader of our humble assemblage of demons. This is Haze, your watch-guard," he pointed to the large gray-skinned demon who had clearly found little fascination in her, "and this is Reaper, one of my most trusted advisors and second in command to our battalions," he gestured to the hooded, golden-eyed demoness, who gave Julia a small, nearly unnoticeable bow. Julia noticed that neither of the other demons had seen her give her that small acknowledgment as Veldor continued to speak.

"We (with the exception of Reaper) have dwelled in this accursed world for the past three thousand years," Julia gasped, "We have heard legends of our arrival in this realm passed on through countless generations, and we have become tired of it. We became trapped here when the gateway to our world (currently situated in South America) was sealed. Despite our best efforts to open it, nothing has succeeded. Many problems presented themselves to us in our attempts. One of which is the gateway itself. For the strangest of reasons, we have been unable to locate it. We believe it is some sort of defense that the angel-architect that sealed the gate in the first place, put on the temple that encases it.

"My best demons have concluded that the only way to open it, is very similar to the way in which it was created. Somehow, we had to combine the spirits of a demon and an angel to break the seal. Although we have plenty of demons who would volunteer, we are scant on angels. They never stick around long enough for us to trap them.

"However, quite recently, we came to realize that there was no need to scour the skies for celestial beings, nor sacrifice the life of one of our own. The combining of demon and angel spirits had already occurred! Somehow the spirits of the original demon and angel that had been utilized had also been trapped in this realm. And they had found human vessels to inhabit.

"Although we are still confused as to how it could have occurred, considering that they were mortal enemies, the two vessels met in human form and did not destroy each other. We have our theories, but I will not trouble you with them. They are unimportant. What _does _matter is that they wound up with a child… A child of destiny that is half demon, half seraph… A child that refused to help us in our plans," the demon scowled at air in front of him and then turned to Julia who stiffened as he set his gaze on her.

"You know this child."

At this Julia had to speak, gripping the chair as she did, "I do?"

"Yes. You do. And you know him quite well," Veldor reached forward and jabbed at the charm hanging from her neck with a long black claw. Julia's eyes widened and she took in a shaky breath. Jin…they were talking about Jin!…I guess to them, a bunch of three thousand year old demons, Jin was still a child since he was only twenty-two.

"So…So…what are you…what are you going to do?" Julia stammered, suddenly feeling lightheaded, "Are you going to use me to lure him out of hiding?"

"Well. That was originally the plan. You see… he is _very_ good at hiding. I suppose one with mixed blood like his has to be. The Amazon rainforest is ludicrously large and dense. On top of that it is nearly impossible to track him since he always seems to know when we're looking for him," at this the demon frowned again.

"The plan…changed?" Julia said weakly. She remembered when Jin had said that he'd always been tipped off about the search parties. Without those warnings, he would have been found months ago.

Veldor snickered, " Yes, it did. We have come to realize that there is no need to use you to lure him out. It's much more simpler now."

"Well…if…its so simple…why do you need me?" she managed to say.

"We no longer need Jin Kazama to find and open the gate for us. We have you now."

"Me? What's so special about me?"

"Everything. You know the exact location of the Gateway temple, don't you," he sneered.

Julia was speechless. It was true. She _did_ know where it was. Julia had begged Jin for nearly two weeks for him to take her there before he relented. She had been amazed, and wanted to go inside, but Jin had refused. However, she had been content with finally seeing it that she didn't continue asking. She had made the discovery she had come to make.

Taking her silence as an affirmation, Veldor smirked, "Good. Very good. This is almost too easy now."

"You still need Jin though. I could only tell you were it is," Julia said trying to convince herself that they couldn't do anything, "Only he can open it…you can't."

"Oh…_I'm_ not going to open it. Jin isn't going to either. But…," he grinned, "your child will."

"Huh? Child? What child?" Julia asked, stunned at the remark.

"The child you carry, Ms. Chang," Veldor smiled cruelly, "That child is going open the gate. No need to waste time and effort looking for its father."

Julia felt like she was about to pass out. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. What that demon was saying was impossible. It couldn't be true. Could it?

"Breathe Ms. Chang. You look like you're about to lose consciousness. I see you hadn't realized this yet." Julia continued to take quick, shallow breaths and began to shake her head in disbelief. "In fact, if it had not been for a few of my most stealthiest scouts, none of us demons would have even been aware of your relationship with the half-breed. I kept them near you so they could observe you. At first, as I said before, the plan was to use you as bait to lure him out, but as time passed they came to notice your seemingly deteriorating state. They reported their observations, and our plans changed to suit new…parameters…so to speak.

"You made it easy for us Ms. Chang. We had almost forgotten just how easily your race propagates, but you have brought it all into perspective once again. We figured that after being his lover for well over a month…you'd be with child," Veldor still had that malicious smile pasted to his face and Julia was beginning to hyperventilate. "Take her back to her cell Haze. It seems she needs some time put all the pieces together."

Haze roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her up, leading her out of the room.

_______________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Missing"**_


	12. Missing

Disclaimer: Tekken = Namco Bandai

Missing

"Pick up Julia!" Verity yelled, her voice layered with frustration. For nearly the tenth time Julia's voice-mail picked up instead, and Verity was beyond annoyed.

"Fine! Be that way!" she uttered as she hung up. "Guess I'm gonna go see you in person if you don't want to talk to me by phone!"

Verity grabbed her bag and hunted for her keys for five minutes before she left her apartment and headed to the parking lot. Opening the door to her Celica, Verity threw her bag in and started the engine. Within fifteen minutes, she reached Julia's small apartment complex to find three police cruisers, lights flashing, outside.

"What the…" Verity muttered as she found an empty parking space. Climbing out, she headed toward the stairwell that led to Julia's third story apartment. On her way over, Verity saw numerous people gathered around in a group as they talked to the police officers who were judiciously writing notes as everyone spoke.

"Atticus! What's going on here? What happened??" Verity questioned as she found him amongst the people who were all whispering frantically.

"Verity! Thank God you're here. Have you seen Julia?" he walked over to her with a worried look on his face.

"Julia? No. She wasn't answering her phone so I decided to come over. Why? What happened?"

"Verity, Julia's missing," Atticus said solemnly.

"What!?," Verity gasped, "Is that why all the cops are here? What happened?"

"Yeah. We heard a racket last night, and by the time we had dragged ourselves over to see if anything was wrong, no one came to the door. The landlady opened the door for us so we could see if there was some sort of emergency and we found the place totally trashed with Julia nowhere to be seen." he recounted sadly, "The cops think she's been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped? By whom?" Verity exclaimed, "Julia doesn't have any enemies."

"We don't know. But the big picture is that someone apparently has something against her," Atticus let his head drop.

"Oh my God," Verity whispered as she looked out at the multitude.

_____________________________

Julia shifted from her position on the small cot that she was sitting on. She had her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms were wrapped around her knees. The dungeon had gotten colder and it seemed as if there was a chilling breeze flowing through the place. As the minutes passed by, more wet tears ran down Julia's face and trickled down the side of her throat. She sniffled. Looking over at the guard, she saw that once again he had fallen asleep. Haze hadn't even bothered to lock the door again. He had told Julia that she was too smart to try to escape, and even if she did sneak out, there were too many demons that wandered the halls. She had no chance of finding her way out without running into one of them. She was trapped; it was that simple.

Although she was still in shock as to the news she had received from the head demon, Julia's mind had begun to race.

_I can't stay here. I have to get out, no matter what I have to do. I'll take out as many fucking demons as I have to, but I'm going to get out of here. There is no way those bastards are going to use me for their plans to open that gate and escape. Opening that gate will only mean that humanity will be hunted again. I'm sure there are demons on the other side who want to get into this world as much as Veldor and his buddies want to get out of it._

_I'm not going to let them use my…baby…_

_I still can't believe it. But it makes sense. The nausea, the dizziness, the mood swings…it all adds up. Jin and I are going to have a baby…_ Julia was overcome by a sudden feeling of anxiety and even more tears escaped her eyes. She reached up to grasp Jin's memento and whispered, "I have to get out of here…Now."

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: I know this chapter is really short but it would have made both the last one and the next one too long. Anyway…let me know what you think!

_**Next Chapter: "Escape?"**_


	13. Escape?

Disclaimer: Namco Bandai + Tekken = not mine

Escape?

Walking on her tiptoes, Julia crossed the large cell and stopped at the door and glanced at the only obstacle that had prevented her from dashing out of the dungeon: Haze's currently sleeping form. Remembering that the door had swung open without creaking, Julia tested it by slightly pushing at it. Mutely, she pressed on the door only until there was a gap wide enough for her to squeeze through. Julia's heart was pounding frantically and she was sure that with his exceptional hearing Haze would take notice of it, wake up, throw her back in the chamber, and lock it this time.

But he didn't so much as stir. His steady breathing showed no sign of alertness and she walked around him. Julia's tense muscles began to ache and she realized that she had been taking in the smallest breaths possible. Listening for the smallest notion that would give away any other demons that may have been walking down the hallways, Julia crept toward the exit. As soon as she thought she was out of listening range she took off in a furious sprint that could possibly mark her as an Olympian athlete.

The entrance to the main room was not guarded. A fact that had Julia on edge. Surely there would be guards posted everywhere to make sure no prisoners escaped; even Haze had said that if she tried to escape she wouldn't get very far. This place was supposed to be crawling with demons.

But there were none. Julia hadn't even _heard _one nearby. Since most of them were huge, they made definite noise when they moved across the black-marble floor. Adrenaline still pumping, Julia decided to make another run for it. She was going to hope she found the way out because in truth she had no idea where the exit to the _building_ was. Dashing across the open room she made her way to another hallway. A left turn here, a right turn there, another left turn at the statue.

_How big is this place? I think I'm going in circles. God help me please! I have to get out of …umph!_ Julia had crashed into something as she made yet another right turn at one of the numerous junctions. The force of the collision threw her back and she hit the glacial floor with enough force to snap her head to the side. She heard a cry as whatever she had hit was pushed back into one of the grisly gargoyle-statues that adorned the majority of the hallways. Jumping back up, Julia tried to run around it without even bothering to find out what it was but suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed her left arm, forcing her to stop and spin around to face the enigma.

Julia found herself staring at a pair of fierce golden eyes concealed by a large black hood.

_Oh shit…it's…_"Re…Reaper," she stammered in horrible defeat. She had been caught.

"What the Hell do you think your doing! You're going to get yourself killed!" Reaper scolded while glancing around quickly to see if there were any other demons around.

"Wha…what?" The demoness' tone had taken Julia completely by surprise. _Why does it feel like I'm being reprimanded for acting like a little kid?_

"Have you gone mad?" Reaper hissed, "Do you have any idea what danger you're putting yourself in right now?"

"Huh?" Julia was completely confused. Suddenly she heard the murmuring of voices as a pair of demons approached them. The blood drained from her face and once again heart picked up the pace.

"Damn it!" Reaper cursed, "Come on! We can't let them see you!" She pulled Julia along sternly and opened one of the countless doors that lined the walls. Once inside the room, Reaper gestured to Julia to stay quiet. Julia complied. They heard the voices pass by, and after a few minutes of cold anxious silence, Reaper let out a loud sigh.

"That was close," she turned to Julia, "Could your hear beat any louder? I was sure those fiends would hear it." Julia gulped, still confused as to why the demoness had helped her and not set off an alarm to tell of her escape.

"Argh…I have to get you back in your cell as soon as possible," Reaper said in annoyance.

"What!? I'm not going anywhere, except away," Julia spat. Guess the help was over.

"I can't let you do that. It's too dangerous to try to sneak out of here. I have to get you back before Haze sounds the alarm. How did you get out? Was he sleeping on the job again?" she questioned.

"Um…yeah…and it didn't help him that he left the door unlocked. He was sure I wasn't stupid enough to try to escape," Julia rolled her eyes.

"Well, it looks like he was wrong,"

In that instant an abrupt commotion was heard outside. Demons were yelling and Julia could hear that they were talking in a strange language. Again Reaper cursed, "Fuck. Too late."

She began to pace the room; her long cloak sweeping behind her as the yelling got louder and more demons joined the hunt for Julia.

After a few minutes, Reaper finally spoke up, "I've got it! I'll tell them that _I_ took you out of the dungeons. I'll say that it was to finally prove just how useless Haze is. So useless that he couldn't even keep an eye on a lowly, pregnant, female human," she turned to Julia, "Please don't think that those are really my sentiments. I do not consider you lowly. In fact, you have to be pretty sharp to have wrapped Jin Kazama around your little finger the way I'm sure you do," her bright eyes hinted at a kind smile.

"Um…Thank you?" Julia felt confused again.

"Come on," Reaper went to the door, "Stay in front of me no matter what. Don't look like you were caught escaping, just look like you're… being given a grand tour of this marvelous castle. If we're lucky, I might be able to get you out of that dungeon and under my personal custody. This is perfect. I've been waiting so long to find a solid excuse to get that lousy demon locked away for good. I'm almost positive he's on to me…"

At this last statement, Julia looked at Reaper with wide eyes, "On to you…? What is that supposed to mean?"

Seeing that she had said too much, Reaper cursed again, "Damn it…I'll tell you later…Just stick to the plan for now, alright?"

"Okay…"

Reaper pulled open the door and motioned for Julia to step out first. Pointing in the direction that they had originally come from, Reaper gave Julia her cue to start walking. After a few moments three demons rounded the corner and shrieked.

"There's the prisoner!"

"Reaper found her!"

"Good work Reaper!"

"Good work?" Reaper asked in a slight tone of perplexity, "What are you talking about?"

"The human…you found her. Didn't you?"

"No. I didn't _find_ her. I'm taking her out for a walk."

"But she escaped!" one of the demons gawked.

"No she didn't. I took her from her cell. Maybe now Veldor will see that Haze is derisory and more of a problem than he's worth," Reaper spat coldly, "He can't even keep a pitiable, pregnant, female human in her 'locked' cell."

The demons shifted uncomfortable. They all knew that Reaper and Haze did not get along very well. Since Reaper was the youngest of them all, had only a few years ago joined their commune, and had _already _risen to the rank of Chief Advisor and Commander of the troops, Haze despised her. He felt that _he_ was the one who should be in her position, that _he_ should be the one who was second in command. For centuries, he had been vying for that very position, but Veldor never saw much promise in him. According to him, Haze had ambition, but not the right kind. As the years had passed, it was clear that Haze wanted to have power, but didn't want to do any kind of work. Simply put…he was too indolent for such a standing.

Ten minutes late, the chaos of the search had been brought to a halt, and Reaper and Julia were in Veldor's main chamber waiting for his and Haze's arrival. Reaper stared out the large window at the pelting rain. The charcoal-colored, melancholic sky promised to continue pouring itself out for at least a few more days. Julia fidgeted in her seat beside Reaper and toyed with the silver chain around her neck. All of a sudden, the door swung open and the two gray-skinned demons walked in. Reaper stood up, pulling Julia up with her and bowed at her leader. Julia hesitantly mirrored her. Veldor looked displeased and extremely annoyed.

"I'll make this quick. Reaper, I'm leaving Ms. Chang under your supervision for the remainder of her stay. I hope it's not too much to ask, I know you're busy but at the moment I can trust no one else with such a crucial task," he glared at Haze, who in turn looked away, humiliated and furious.

"Of course, my lord. I'll make sure she doesn't try anything injudicious," she said firmly.

"Haze. You disappoint me. I thought that a task as important as keeping Ms. Chang safe would be enough to keep you wide awake. But it seems as if I was wrong. You disgrace us. From this moment on until further notice, you are to take Ms. Chang's place in the dungeon," Haze's eyes widened with mortification, as he began to protest, Veldor interrupted him, "Do not say anything. You are beyond help now. Guards!" two green skinned demons entered the room, "take Haze to the dungeon."

Haze was forced out of the room while Veldor, Reaper, and Julia looked after him.

"My lord?" Reaper began after his bellowing had subsided.

"Yes."

"I ask to be given permission to move Ms. Chang out of the dungeons an into one of my private quarters. It will be easier to monitor her and to be honest, I do not believe that the dungeons are a proper place for a woman in her condition," Reaper solicited.

"Do as you see fit Reaper. I trust your judgment."

"Thank you my lord," she turned to Julia, "Come human."

Without saying a word, Julia trailed Reaper as she led the way to another part of the castle.

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Identity Revealed"**_


	14. Identity Revealed

Disclaimer: Tekken is Namco Bandai's

A/n: So…it looks like I'm going to be updating every day!

I usually write around two chapters a night so I actually have a good number of chapters written in advance…

…makes it easier to update XD

Identity Revealed

Reaper led Julia to wing of the castle that was the furthest from the dungeons. After passing a set of vigilant demons that guarded the main hall, they walked for a few minutes before entering a large bedroom. The moment Reaper opened the double doors, Julia gasped. It was stunning. The black-marble floors were covered by rich crimson rugs. Hanging from the gray walls were intricately woven tapestries that had gold medieval-style embroidery. An enormous chandelier hung from the ceiling. The glistening crystals cast the light from the candles into every corner of the room. On the right-hand side of the room, an enormous four-poster bed, also decorated in blood-red colors, sat pushed against the wall. The numerous lounging chairs and sofas, were as soft as velvet and had been dyed a ruby red. Julia blinked several times before making her way to the center of the room and turning around at least four times before she spoke.

"It's gorgeous," she whispered, awe-struck.

"It's yours," Reaper responded.

"What?"

"This is were you'll be staying for the next few months. Or at least until we can figure out a way to get you out of here safely."

That statement brought numerous unanswered questions to Julia's mind. She tore her sight away from the room and turned to face the cloaked demoness.

"I still don't understand why you didn't turn me in. Or why you just said that you're going to help me get out of here," Julia questioned.

Reaper sighed, "I guess there's no more room for ambiguity is there?" Julia shook her head. "Alright…I suppose… it's time I revealed my true identity. Why don't we sit down first," she motioned toward the sofa nearest them. The two of them took a seat and Julia looked at Reaper expectantly. "First of all, you have to promise not to mention this to anyone, nor give any reactions that could potentially cast you as an informed one."

"Of course. I promise," Julia said quickly.

Reaper reached up to her face and in one deft movement removed her hood. Julia gasped. Reaper looked far more human than any of the other demons. Her skin was a pale but soft cream that was too human-colored. She was striking. Her long jet-black hair fell until it was even with her elbows. Her bangs were parted to the right, revealing only the left half of her forehead. From her forehead, Julia saw a semi-straight line than ran from the edge of her hairline to the top of her cheek, crossing lightly over her eyelid. Next to this like was another, that curved away like an elongated and rounded "L" that began at her eyebrow then sliced down her eye and curved under it. In between those lines was a third, that started at the top of her cheekbone then ended when it was even with her upper lip. The lines were darker that her skin, and Julia noticed that they were not simply lines-- they were scars -- scars that dipped into the left side of her face.

What shocked Julia even more were the rest of the markings on her face. They were _identical _to the marks on _Jin's_ face. The same pattern that began in the center of the forehead then spread out and curled underneath her eyes. Although she couldn't see it because of her bangs, Julia was sure that she too had a dimly lit ruby-like gem set in the center. From the sides of her head, two slick, slender ivory horns also grew forward. At that precise moment, Julia realized that she had the same golden eyes and the same black-feathered wings, although hers were much smaller. Maybe only about thirteen feet long.

"Who are you," Julia gasped.

"I look kind of familiar don't I?" Reaper asked with a small smile.

"You have the same markings that Jin does. You look nothing like the other demons. Why?"

"Well. That's because I'm not a full-blooded demon."

Julia had figured out that much, "Why do you have the same markings as Jin?" she inquired with wide eyes.

"Because he's my brother," Reaper said simply.

"What!" Julia blinked several times, "He's…he's…your brother?"

"Yes. My twin brother. Although _he _doesn't know he has a twin," she said sadly. Julia was speechless and gaping at Reaper, "I'm the sister he doesn't even know he has."

"But you don't look like him, aside from the markings anyways," Julia choked.

Reaper laughed, "No. I don't. I look like our mother the same way he looks like our father, so there is very little actual resemblance," Julia's brow furrowed, "That's the beauty of fraternal twins for you," she smiled, revealing her sharp fangs.

"Your name is obviously not Reaper, is it?" Julia asked as the thought entered her mind.

Again, Reaper chuckled, "No. My name is Jan-Izumi Kazama aka 'Jaez.' The demons call me Reaper because of my peculiar ability to literally siphon the life out of living things by touching them. According to everyone, Death is my best friend. It's also one of the reasons I earned respect around here so quickly."

At this, Julia's mind came up with dozens of comments, but only one found it's way onto her lips, "So…you and Jin are… like opposites?"

"Opposites?'" Reaper questioned, "What do you mean by 'opposites'?"

"Yeah…Opposites. With your weird powers, I mean."

Reaper shook her head, " I don't see what you're trying to get at here, Julia."

"You see…Jin's odd ability is the ability to heal. He saved my life with it. Yours, however, is the ability to…harm. Hence, opposites," Julia said while trying to find the right word. She didn't want to say 'kill.'

"Is that so?" Julia nodded and Jaez gave a small smile, "Hm…That makes sense now."

"What makes sense?"

"The demons around here call Jin, 'Resurrector.' I never did figure out why. But I guess I know now. It's because he can pull people back from death in the same way I pull them away from life," Jaez said thoughtfully.

"Um. Jaez, (can I call you that?)," Jaez nodded, "why are you here helping these demons? You obviously don't want to have the gateway opened. You could have done it yourself since you're Jin's twin sister. So, I don't understand what you're doing here."

"Ah…you get to the point quickly don't you?" Jaez admired.

Julia smiled slightly, "Jin always called me perceptive."

"A fitting word," she took in a deep breath, "I integrated myself into this commune to keep the demons away from the temple by sabotaging their missions and messing with their databases. Recently my job became more complicated when they realized that they needed Jin. I've been making sure that idiot stays alive and out of the demons' reach for the past few months," she finished in a humorous tone.

"So _you're_ the mistress of the demoness that warns Jin," Julia said, stunned.

"You know about Obsidian?" Jaez raised an eyebrow and Julia nodded, "Well then, would you like to meet her?" Again, Julia nodded.

Turning to the wall opposite the bed, Jaez called out in a normal tone, "Obsidian. Could you come here please."

Moments later, an ethereal body came through the wall then lowered itself to the ground, quickly solidifying until a demoness appeared.

_Whoa. _Julia thought _She reminds me of the ghost twins from The Matrix Reloaded. Creepy. I wonder why she's called Obsidian. Her skin is… the color of red wine?..._

In that moment Obsidian opened her eyes and Julia saw the reason. Both of her eyes were completely black. There were no glowing irises set in white, but instead it seemed as if her entire eyeball was black…there was no differentiating color.

After nearly an hour of talking and exchanging thoughts, Jaez told Julia to go to sleep. She informed her that Obsidian would make sure no idiotic demon came in and tried to hurt her, so she could sleep soundly. Julia thanked Jaez for everything, but she just brushed her off saying that she was family now, and Jaez _never _let anything happen to family. With the Jaez' reassuring words, Julia drifted off to sleep knowing that there, in the unlikeliest of places, she and her baby were safe.

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Bet you didn't see that one coming, did ya? …Lol…I've got another fic in which Jaez tells you about her life in a story-teller style…I'll put it up as soon as I can…although I'll probably update that fic much more slowly…! It's called _The Reaper's Tale _…I might change the title though…

_**Next Chapter: "Three Months Later"**_


	15. 3 Months Later

Disclaimer: Tekken does not belong to me…

3 Months Later

_Does the rain _ever _stop around here?_

Julia was lying on the plush red sofa that was under the main window of the room. For the last three months it had seemed to Julia that the weather matched her mood. Dark and depressed; full of melancholic misery.

_I want to get out of here! I don't want to be here! _A warm tear slid down her cheek. Followed shortly by another. Then without notice, Julia started sobbing. Her whole body began to shake and she pulled her legs up to her chest as best she could. At that precise moment, the large double doors on the opposite side of the room opened, and a hooded demon entered.

"Crying again, Julia?" Jaez asked as she closed the doors and walked to the other side of the room, where Julia lay huddled.

"I can't help myself," her voice broke.

Sighing, Jaez shook her head disapprovingly, "That does no good to either you or your babies."

"But I'm scared Jaez. I don't want anything to happen to my babies," more tears ran down her cheeks in miniature streams and she wrapped her arms around her swollen belly.

"Julia. I've already told you. Nothing is going to happen to them. I'm not going to allow it." Jaez insisted. Julia didn't respond and instead turned her head to gaze out the glass panes of the window and stared at the gray skies. Ever since she had discovered that she was going to have twins, Julia had become more anxious. She had yet _another _life to look out for now.

----_Flashback----_

_At first she had thought Jaez' question silly. She had asked whether Julia had ever had any heart problems._

"_Heart problems?" Julia repeated, "Have I ever had any _heart_ problems?"_

"_Yeah. Like heart murmurs or something."_

"_Uh..No. Why?" Julia was now utterly confused._

"_Well…it sounds like there's something wrong with your heart," Jaez hesitantly spoke._

_Julia sat stunned and speechless. She opened her mouth to speak but she couldn't make her vocal cords form any words. After several moments of silence, Julia managed to let a few words tumble from her lips, "Why…Why do you think that?"_

"_For an odd reason I hear an strange fluctuation in heartbeats. There is no ordered synchronization. They seem kind of sporadic," Jaez frowned in concern._

"_Sp-sporadic? Are-are you sure you're not just hearing my heartbeats and my baby's heartbeats at the same time? I doubt that they are going at the same rate," Julia tried to reason, "That would account for the fact that you hear a jumble."_

_Jaez shook her head, "I don't think so. I can differentiate between them. I hear you baby's heart and I hear yours. Unless there is something wrong with the baby's heart…yours is the one that's going crazy."_

"_No," Julia's voice cracked, "Ther-there's nothing wrong with my baby's heart. O-Or mine. Maybe you should get your hearing ch-checked Jaez," Julia gulped and a look of fear crossed her face._

_Seeing the terrified expression that had settled on Julia's face, Jaez said, "My hearing is better than most _demons'_ Julia, I think I know what I'm talking about. But you know what? Let me listen again, maybe I was accidentally hearing Obsidian's heart too," Julia nodded anxiously, "Don't say anything and try to calm down." _

_Jaez turned her head to the side so she could hear more clearly and then closed her eyes to focus her mind on differentiating the steady rhythms. After a few moments Jaez' head snapped up and she had a startled look on her face._

_Julia stiffened at her expression, "Jaez?"_

"_I don't believe it," Jaez' eyes were opened wide and staring blankly at the wall._

"_Jaez? What is it? What's wrong?" Julia grabbed at Jaez' arm and tried to make her turn toward her._

"_Nothing."_

"_Huh? What do you mean by 'nothing' Jaez?"_

_She turned to Julia with a look of fascination lingering in her eyes, "There's nothing wrong with your hearts. It's just that…I wasn't expecting that." Julia looked more confused than ever, "I didn't hear just two sets Julia. I heard three."_

"_Three? What does that mean?"_

"_You're having twins Julia."_

_----End of Flashback----_

"Get me out of here Jaez. Please," Julia whined, "I want to go home. I…I want to see Jin again. I…I want to tell him that he's going to be a dad,"

Jaez' kind eyes showed her understanding, "I know Julia, but I can't risk whisking you out. There are too many demons here. I can't take them all on, even with my additional capabilities. I'm sorry…We have to wait for a chance later down the line." She put a hand on Julia's shoulder, squeezed gently and then turned to leave. As she saw Jaez walk down the room, Julia couldn't help but let a few more tears escape her eyes.

___________________________________

After grabbing the half-gallon container of chocolate ice cream out of the freezer, Verity walked back around the counter and let herself drop onto the couch. She opened it, and then dug in, letting the icy delicacy slide down her throat, cooling her from the inside out. A moment later, she yelped as a sudden pang of pain stuck her behind the eye. She let go of her spoon and put her hand to her eye.

"Damned…brain…freeze!" she whispered as the pain gradually subsided, "UGH! I can't even eat ice-cream in peace!" Not caring that the ice cream would probably give her another reminder that it should not be eaten quickly, Verity picked up the spoon and again began to eat.

After eating a good portion of the ice cream, Verity put the lid back on and set the tub on the new coffee table. Taking in a deep breath then letting it out slowly, she looked around the living room. The cream-colored walls were supposed to be inviting, but to Verity they seemed cold and distant, as if somehow they knew they were witnesses to the tragedy that had occurred here three months ago.

"Where are you Julia?" Verity whispered as she gazed at the photograph that sat above the mantle of the electric fireplace on the far side of the room. It was a photo of Julia and Verity right before they had left for the Amazon.

After Julia had been kidnapped, an all-out investigation had been put into effect. Despite the efforts of even the FBI, not a single lead had been uncovered for them to follow. The authorities thought it was impossible. No one could figure out how Julia had been kidnapped. There was no evidence of breaking-and-entering, and although everything had been trashed, not a single stray fiber of clothing or hair had been found. Julia's blood indicated a struggle, but there was nothing to identify her attacker. Absolutely. Nothing.

A few weeks later, the police had said that there was little hope for finding Julia. The landlady didn't know what to do with all of Julia's stuff. She didn't want to get rid of it all. Clues leading to Julia's safe return could arise, but until then…there was no one to pay the monthly rent and bills and she was hard pressed for money. Verity had asked if she could move in until Julia returned. She promised to pay the rent and everything else. The landlady eagerly agreed. Verity moved in and asked her brother to keep an eye on her own apartment.

Verity turned away from the photograph and turned on the television. As she flipped through the channels she came across one that caught her attention. It was the Discovery Channel. The program that was on today was about the Amazon Rainforest. Verity's eyes widened and her jaw dropped as an idea came to her mind.

"Oh my God! I am such and idiot! Why didn't I think of this before!?" Verity stood up suddenly, "If the police can't do shit…why do I keep waiting for them to pull some bunny out of a magical hat?"

She ran to the phone and called the airport, "Hello, I'd like to buy a ticket to La Paz, Bolivia. I need the next flight out."

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Encounter"**_


	16. Encounter

Disclaimer: Tekken belongs to Namco Bandai

Encounter

The enormous expanse of the Amazon Rainforest stretched out as far as the eye could see. As Verity looked out of the small window of the airplane, she thanked the Discovery Channel for the documentary on the massive jungle. The police were clearly helpless in the investigation that looked in on Julia's disappearance, but Verity had one last hope at locating her missing friend: Jin.

Maybe Jin could find something that the human investigators had missed. All she had to do was pry Jin away from that accursed gateway. Verity hoped that the news of Julia's kidnapping would be enough to make Jin return with Verity to Phoenix. As the plane landed, she set her mind and firmed her resolve.

A few days later, Verity walked down the main road that led to the village she had left over three months ago.

_I only hope that they understand that I can't tell them why I'm here. They wouldn't believe me. …Well…the villagers might…but the archaeologists wouldn't. _

_Here we go._

She rounded the last bend and saw a number of the village children all huddled together, clearly getting ready for a game. One of them looked up and saw Verity. He blinked several times before he began to shout. The other children turned to see what had caused the sudden outburst and also saw Verity. The majority of them smiled and ran up to Verity, but some of them--the older ones-- stared in confusion. The teenagers knew that they were not supposed to see Verity for a very long time, -- if they ever saw her again, that is. Two of the girls turned to each other and then took off to find the elders.

"Hey guys! It's so good to see you again!" Verity said, although she knew they couldn't understand her. She bent down to hug them and they began to talk to her. Verity smiled and nodded politely like she always had. She still didn't know what they were saying.

"What you do here? Verity?" a heavily accented voice said.

Verity turned to see the chief walking toward her accompanied by his wife and eldest son.

"You speak English now?" Verity asked, shocked at the revelation.

"Little. But enough. What you do here?" the chief asked again

"I…" She hesitated. _Should I tell him the truth? Would he believe me if I said I came to find a renegade demon? _Verity took in a deep breath. _Let's find out. What can he do? Throw me out? _"I…I'm here looking for someone."

"Who," the chief asked confused.

"A…a demon," she said quickly.

The chief's eyes narrowed. "There no demon here. Go. Back to home."

"No. You don't understand. I _have_ to find this demon. He's the only one who can help me. Julia was kidnapped," upon seeing the chief's confusion at the word, Verity rephrased, "Julia was… stolen. And her demon friend is the only one who can help me find her. No one else has been able to," Verity frantically explained.

"There no demon here. Go. Back to home!" the chief repeated fiercely. Apparently the topic of demons was not a welcome one around here…at least not if they weren't part of fabled legends. Great.

"Forget I said anything. I'm going to look for him, good-bye," Verity turned and walked away as the three of them stared at her back. She was about to leave the boundary of the village when suddenly a voice spoke up.

"Wait!"

Verity turned to the voice and saw a teenager who couldn't have been more than seventeen. She had never seen this kid before. Something that seemed impossible since she had lived there for two months and had met everyone.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Keeroh, " the boy replied, and then added, "I can help you find the demon."

"What?" Verity was stunned.

"I know where you can find him!" he said quickly while his eyes darted over his shoulder at the chief. The three authority figures had their backs turned to them and were walking away.

"Whoa. Back up a bit kiddo. I've never seen you before and you speak English _way_ to good to be a native," Verity observed.

"I am a native, it's just that I've spent the last few months in the big city at college. I learned how to speak English there," he explained.

"Really?" _Damn…must be the genius of the village if he's been to college…he can't be older than…what?… seventeen? _Verity thought.

"Yes. But that is not important. You are looking for the demon so that he can help your friend?"

"You know him?" Verity asked hesitantly. Did _he _believe her?

"Yes. He saved my life."

"It seems like he has a habit of doing that," Verity said with a hint of humor, "You said you know him. Do you know his name?" Verity wanted to make sure that they were talking about the same demon. It would suck if it weren't the right one.

"Yes. He calls himself Jin," Keeroh said brightly.

Verity's eyes opened wide, "Take me to him. Now."

Keeroh nodded and led Verity into the jungle. After a couple of hours of hiking through dense foliage, they arrived at a large clearing.

"It's the Gateway Temple…" Verity gasped as the large structure came into view. It was enormous. The style mimicked that of the Mayan's temples, but as far as she could see there was no entrance…anywhere. Maybe it was on the other side?

"Yes. He spends most of his time around here. If we're lucky, he'll be around," Keeroh said.

"How do we call him? Does he have some sort of Bat-signal," Verity asked skeptically.

Keeroh laughed, "No. I'm afraid not. We'll have to make do with calling out his name. He has remarkable hearing, if he's within a few miles he _should _be able to hear us."

"Right."

________________________________

----_When do you plan to get over your ridiculous depression, boy?_ Asked the demon in annoyance.

" Whenever I feel like it," Jin said sourly as he looked out at the forest from his perch atop one of the gigantic trees.

_----Do you realize what the mere thought of that girl has done to you? You spend all your time moping around wishing she were back in your arms. It is so stupid! Get this through your thick skull: she is _not _coming back and you are _not _going after her. Stop your lover's lament. I can't stand it!_

"Then maybe you should stay out of my head if you don't like what you see," Jin spat.

----_Maybe I will. I think I'll take a vacation and perhaps when I return you will have gotten over your little crush. _

…_hmm…Maybe I should take you with me…you look like you need a…What was that?_

"Huh? What was…what?" Jin listened carefully for whatever it was that the demon had heard.

----_I think it's that Keeroh kid. Another one of your good deeds. Gah! You should stop saving people. They only end up asking you for more favors! _He listened a little longer _Oh. You must be joking! Looks like he brought a friend to meet you!…ridiculous!…ridiculous!… _the demon's spirit faded, leaving Jin alone.

"Verity?" Jin whispered as he recognized her voice. She sounded frantic. _What the hell is she doing here? The next batch of amateur archaeologists won't come around until next year…Wait…if she's here…then Julia must be here too! Those two don't go anywhere without each other._

Without thinking about it twice, Jin sprang into the air and headed in the direction of the shouts. After just a few minutes he pulled out of his flight and landed in the clearing.

"JIN! JI…oh my god…" Verity blinked several times as she realized that he was right in front of her. Her eyes looked him up and down.

_Oh my…my oh my…Damn…_Verity's jaw dropped…_and I thought Brock was hot…he's nothing compared to Jin…_

_This guy is absolutely gorgeous! Even with the wings and the horns…Damn, Julia is lucky!_

Verity had never actually seen Jin clearly in the daylight, and she was shocked. She simply stared as he looked at her with a confused expression.

"Verity? What are you doing here?" Jin finally asked.

"I…I was looking for you," she managed to say as she shook away her previous thoughts.

"Looking for me?"

"You know him too?" Keeroh asked suddenly, making Verity jump. She had already forgotten he had come with her.

"Um…yeah. I met him about five months ago, while I was here for school,"

Before Keeroh could say anything else, Jin repeated his question, "Looking for me? Why?"

Verity turned to Jin, "I need for you to come back to Phoenix with me."

"For what reason?"

"It has to do with Julia," Verity said with a hint of sorrow.

"Julia?" Jin saw the sad look on Verity's face. "What happened to Julia?!" he demanded.

"She…She…Julia…was kidnapped," Verity hung her head and a tear escaped her eye.

Jin was stunned, "Kidnapped!? When!? How!?" he stammered.

"About three months ago and nobody knows how that's why I'm here," Verity couldn't bear to look at Jin in the eyes.

"THREE MONTHS AGO!" Jin exclaimed, "And you're just NOW coming to tell me!?"

"I'm sorry…but…"

"No. Don't say anything else. There's no need to ask me to tag along. You couldn't get rid of me even if you tried to shoot me," Verity gaped at Jin, "Fuck the temple. We're going to Arizona."

____________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "The Gateway"**_


	17. The Gateway

Disclaimer: Tekken is, unfortunately, not my property. But Reaper/Jaez is mine!

The Gateway

Click. Click. Click. The sound of Jaez's knee-length, high-heeled boots, echoed icily through the empty hallway. Her billowing cloak fanned out behind her and brushed her black wings. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she had only then noticed the unbecoming austerity that had gradually encroached on the place.

_How odd. There are no lights in this corridor. _

She paused and glanced around, confused.

_There were no guards at the entrance either…._ she frowned. _Something's not right…_

In that moment she heard the hushed voices of several demons occupying one of the rooms at the end of the hall.

_The advisors?_

Walking toward the room on the balls of her feet so that her heels would not make any noise, Jaez decided to listen in on the clandestine conversation. Why hadn't she been called? She was _supposed _to know of _all _meetings in this place…

"We cannot tell Reaper!" said one of the demons from the other side of the door. They were clearly unaware of her presence. Apparently their hearing wasn't as good as they claimed it to be.

"Why not? She is Veldor's chief advisor. She should know!"

"She CANNOT!" answered a third demon angrily with his grisly voice.

_His voice sounds familiar. _Jaez pressed her ear to the door as best she could.

"Why Not?" the second demon questioned again. He was unmistakably annoyed.

"We can not trust her! I'm sure she is the reason that the damned half-breed kept evading our capture!" claimed the third demon.

Suddenly the demon's identity became clear. _Haze? What the hell is he doing out of the dungeon?!_

"Why would you say something so preposterous?"

"Because it is the TRUTH," Haze said sharply. It seemed so odd to hear him show so much…emotion.

"Enough. All of you. It does not matter whether Reaper is a traitor or not. What we need to do now is let Veldor know of the location of the Gateway," Came the calm response of yet another demon.

Jaez nearly gasped. _The Gateway? They know where it is? But how? _

In the next moment her mental question was answered as the demon continued to talk.

"We were fortunate. That blasted half-breed was careless. I really don't care why he left South America in such a frenzy, but we know where the Gateway is now. All we have to do is tell Veldor, and convince him that it is no longer necessary to keep the human alive. We just need the blood of her unborn," he finished plainly.

"Well then what are we waiting for?"

Jaez straightened up with a horrified look on her face. _Oh God. I have to get Julia out of here now! _She heard the demons moving to leave the room and before they could make it to the door, Jaez took off down the hallway.

_________________________

"I have absolutely no idea as to what that says," Julia said defeated. She was looking down at a bunch of Japanese symbols written in black ink.

"Look at them closely," Obsidian had a clearly amused look on her face, "and try again."

Julia squinted her eyes and brought the paper closer to her face, "I have no idea," she tossed the paper down and threw her arms up, "Who knew learning Japanese would be so difficult!"

Before Obsidian could so much as formulate an answer to her expression, Jaez burst through the door. Both Julia and Obsidian looked up at her in surprise.

"Jaez?" Julia inquired, "What wrong? You look like you're being chased by lions or something."

"We have to get you out of here Julia," Jaez said frantically as she approached them.

"Huh? I thought you said it was too dangerous…not that I'm complaining about getting out of here," Julia said quickly and then stood up.

"They know where the Gateway is. They saw Jin leaving the Amazon and now they know where it is. They don't care about keeping you alive anymore," Jaez paused, "The demons are going to kill you and your babies."

Julia was speechless. She put her arms around her stomach instinctively and was shaking her head hysterically. Her lips mouthed the word "no," over and over again.

Before anyone had moved a muscle, the doors flung wide open again. This time Veldor and numerous guards walked through the doorway. Jaez straightened up and masked her horror with the face of confusion.

"My lord. What are you doing here?" she asked respectfully while cocking her head to the side.

"The time has come Reaper. The Gateway has been found and it's guardian has left. There is no need to continue waiting. We can finally return to our home realm," he explained as a pair of demons stepped forward to grab Julia roughly by the arms.

"It has been found?!" Jaez faked surprise. _There are too many demons here, _she thought_ I can't get Julia out now…_

"Yes," he turned around walked out.

"Let go of me!" Julia screamed as she struggled to pull away, "You bastards… Let. Go. Of. ME!!"

_____________________________________________

"No. No. No," Julia whispered in desperation as tears streamed down her face, "Not the temple…"

They were standing in front of the massive stone structure. It loomed above them like a giant waiting to be taken down. It's step-pyramid shape had once been fascinating but now, the monolith meant Julia's death and the world's destruction.

Jaez stood helplessly by as the two largest guards held onto Julia's arms more effectively than handcuffs. You couldn't pick _them_…

_Think Jaez…Think!! _Jaez' emotionless face masked the turmoil that was wreaking havoc with her mind.

Several demons stepped forward at Veldor's signal.

The demolition crew.

In one swift but deadly synchronized movement, the dozen demons rammed the wall of the temple with their own bodies. A shudder ran through the entire structure and a tremor was felt through the ground as they rammed it once, twice…

Half of the temple gave way and came crashing down, landing in demolished pieces around the standing half. Several chambers of the temple could be seen as the dust cleared.

"There," Veldor said as he pointed to the largest of the cavities. "That is the main chamber. The Gateway chamber," he turned to the 125 demons who stood behind him, "Let's go home," he smirked.

In silent…well, almost silent (Julia was still yelling)…procession the demons entered the 3000 year old edifice. As they all gathered in the enormous room, Julia suddenly stopped yelling. She saw the large 10-foot wide Gateway on an enormous platform that curled high above the demons. A large wall had been build directly behind it. It looked like a pair of slick black curled horns pointing up. (__) At it's base were several strange symbols arranged in a circle five feet in diameter. In the very center was the most prominent one. To Julia, they seemed to have a tribal-style.

Julia stared wide-eyed at the enormous structure as the demons shoved her onto the platform and threw her down into the center of the circle of symbols.

_God please help me….._

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Oh no!! What's going to happen to Julia…??? Wait for the next chapter and find out…

_**Next Chapter: "Sacrifice"**_


	18. Sacrifice

Disclaimer: Tekken is the property of Namco Bandai!

A/n: This chapter is going to get kind of **gory **so…yeah…you've been warned!

Sacrifice 

Julia shakily stood up and looked around at the Gateway. She saw all of the demons glaring at her; they wanted her to die. Now.

She turned to Jaez with a pleading look, and hoped that she had some sort of plan to get her out…she had to…she said that she _never_ let anything happen to family…right?

"Slash!" Veldor suddenly called out. Julia jumped as his voice echoed off of the wall behind her.

"My lord," Julia saw the enormous green-skinned demon that had nearly killed her over three months ago when he had gone to kidnap her. The one that had been considered "too brutal." He stepped forward and saluted Veldor by putting his fist across his chest and bowing.

"Why don't you do the honors…I know you've been wanting to kill her since you first saw her," Veldor looked up at Julia with a malicious grin.

"Yes Sir," Slash also grinned, revealing all of his pointed teeth.

He stepped forward and drew an enormous sword from a sheath attached to a leather belt around his waist. The silver metal gleamed with a frigid light and Julia could see that the surface seemed almost flawless. He stepped up onto the platform and stood less than fifteen feet from Julia.

Julia shrank back in horror until she ran into the stone wall. She could feel her heart pounding faster as each second crept by. Slash stepped forward and Julia couldn't help but whimper and close her eyes. Why wasn't Jaez doing anything?! His glowing eyes grew brighter and he lunged.

As Julia waited for the final blow that would end her life, she heard the sudden screech of scraping steel.

Julia opened her eyes and saw that Jaez was standing in front of her. She had blocked Slash's strike!

Slash's face distorted in astonishment as he saw Reaper standing before him, her sword locked against his. Her eyes were glowing even brighter than his in savage ferocity. In one swift movement, while Slash was still in shock, Jaez knocked his sword aside and reached forward with her left hand.

She put her hand over his heard and dug her claws into his chest. Blood pulsed out from around her fingers and dripped down his stomach. Built-in armor or no…Jaez' claws cut through his hide like broken glass through silk. Effortlessly.

Slash howled out as suddenly a glacial sensation erupted from his chest and began to spread out through his torso. He fell to his knees as Jaez continued to use her talent to end his deplorable life. Less than five seconds later, he tumbled back over the stairs that led up to the platform and crashed into the demons below. His wound continued to pump out grisly, red blood as his lifeless eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. They would never glow again.

Jaez stood defiantly at the top, glaring at the demons below her. Blood dripped from her hand and pooled in small puddles near her feet. She raised her bloody had to grasp the hilt of her sword and raised it in front of her.

"I _never _let anything happen to family…" she spat as her upper lip curled and a snarl escaped her throat, "Enough with the charade!"

The demons had been so stunned they hadn't even moved. But that was all over now. Several shrieked and launched themselves at her. Jaez jumped forward and impaled the demon that had attacked first, without drawing out her sword, she swung it to block the next demon. It cut straight through the first demon, while severing his arm as he reached down to claw at his wound. Blood sprayed out from his missing limb and his slashed torso, covering everyone around him in a sticky scarlet goo. Again Jaez locked swords with another demon, and again she disarmed him. He looked up in shock as she brought her leg up and planted a kick in his chest with enough force to pierce through both his skin and his heart and send him flying back. She heard his spine shatter as he hit one of the pillars that stood warily on the far side of the chamber.

Jaez saw two demons on either side of her. They charged forward to impale her with their swords, but she was too quick. Jaez spread her wings and jumped up causing the two demons to crash into each other. The sick sound of steel penetrating flesh was heard as they fell before their own blades. To make sure that they would never stand again, Jaez came back down and crushed their skulls with the heels of her boots.

Reaching down she grabbed one of the swords of the demons and pulled it out. It's bloody blade shone starkly in her hands and as the next demon approached, she swung the sword back and then launched it at him. The weapon did a complete 360 degree turn before it found its way through the demons throat. More blood sprayed and the demon flew back with the force of the blow. His head toppled off as the sword continued its rotations. It was so sharp it hadn't even slowed down as it cut through his skin and his neck bone. Like a knife through butter…indeed.

Julia stared in horror as Jaez battled with the demons ruthlessly; almost animalistic ally. Blood continued to rain down and she felt the warm, disgusting liquid as it hit her cheek. She was so terrified she could only cower back against the wall.

"OBSIDIAN!" Jaez suddenly bellowed, "GET JULIA OUT OF HERE!"

Julia looked up to see Obsidian jump over the hoard of demons and land beside her. She had been trying to distract the demons from behind so that Jaez would have an easier time taking them down one by one. Julia gasped as she felt Obsidian wrap her arms around her and then suddenly pull her to one side as a demon maneuvered himself around Jaez and tried to get Julia. Obsidian let Julia go and pulled out her own slender sword. She pushed Julia behind her and slammed her sword into his stomach.

Jaez looked back to make sure that Obsidian had gotten to Julia. In that one instant of distraction, a demon lunged forward. Jaez saw that Julia was fine and as she looked back to her attackers, noticed the demon's proximity. She tried to block his sword, but it was too late. Jaez gasped as she felt the cold steel of the sword pierce through her chest…through her heart…and pin her to the wall. Her sword dropped from her hand and clattered to the ground. A second demon charged forward and impaled her through the stomach with his own sword, further trapping her against the wall. Blood seeped around the entrance wounds and began to drip down her front. A thin rivulet of scarlet ran from the corner of her mouth as she struggled to breathe.

Jaez felt her knees give out but she couldn't fall. The two swords were keeping her in place.

"JAEZ!" Julia screamed in horror as she saw blood sputtering from her mouth, "JAEZ!!"

Obsidian grabbed Julia again and pulled her away. A sudden tingling sensation coursed through Julia's entire body and when she looked down at herself she cried out.

She was …disappearing?

No. She was de-materializing just like Obsidian was…

Obsidian held onto Julia and began to hover back through the wall. Julia looked to Jaez and saw an infuriated Veldor walk up to her and without saying a word, reach up…and slide his claws along her throat…like a knife through butter…

More blood spewed forth from Jaez' new wound and Julia saw that her eyes began to grow dull. She saw Jaez' body spasm few times and then fall limp, propped up only with the aid of the swords.

The last thing that Julia saw before Obsidian whisked her out of the temple, was Jaez' blood-- viscous and crimson--- running all the way to the center of the seal…

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Uh oh…that can't be good, can it? What will happen now that Jaez' blood has touched the seal??? O_O

_**Next Chapter: "Apocalypse"**_


	19. Apocalypse

Disclaimer: Tekken is definitely not my property…

A/n: Aghhh!!! Sorry for the late update but either my computer was tweaking out a bit or I forgot to save this chapter after I was finished! O_O…

I had to retype the second half of it! *Pulls at hair*

Good thing I've got a semi-photographic memory so it is almost the same! ^_^

Apocalypse

Haze watched gleefully as Reaper's blood poured out from her wounds in torrents. How long had he waited for the day he saw that bitch fall? Too long…much too long…

"Where is the human!?" he heard a demon shriek.

They had all been so distracted by Reaper's treachery and her gruesome end, that they hadn't even realized that Obsidian had already disappeared. But before they could leave to go in search of Julia, they noticed something very odd…

The Gateway's seal had begun to glow.

Several of the demons were rendered speechless, while others began to curse. What was going on?

Finally Veldor spoke up, "The seal has been broken…" he looked over at Reaper's body with wide eyes, "But how..??"

One by one, the strange symbols began to become illuminated. Veldor walked over to Reaper and quickly pulled out the swords that had pinned her upright, against the wall. She toppled over and fell face-down in the pool of her own blood. Veldor tore her cloak off and flipped her over. Even though blood splattered, her face was still striking. The moment his gaze fell upon her left arm he stood up quickly with a look of shock plastered on his face.

"It can't be…" a demon said as he also saw the mark, "She…she's more than just a…a half-breed…she's…a DarkAngel…"

"Impossible…" whispered another demon.

Haze stepped forward and crossed his arms, "What did I tell you? Hmm?? I told you she was not to be trusted. From the very beginning, I _told _you she couldn't be trusted."

One of the advisors---the one who had insisted that they tell Reaper of the discovery of the temple---stepped forward and turned to Haze, "You were right…she _was _the one who tipped off the other half-breed…she's been sabotaging us from the very beginning…."

"How ironic…She spent the last four years keeping us from reaching our goal but now _she_ is the reason we accomplished it…" Veldor mused.

A sudden charge filled the air around them and they saw the gateway begin to glow as well.

"At last…we are going to leave this accursed planet and return to our rightful places in Hell," Veldor gazed at the bright orange and yellow portal that had coalesced in between the two spikes.

"We are no longer bound to this plane of existence…" a demoness stated in awe.

Veldor spread his massive bat-like wings and shot through the air and into the shimmering yellow portal…a bullet from a gun.

Not waiting for anything else to hinder their return, the legion of demons followed suit. In less than a minute the once jam-packed chamber had been emptied…

No more bullets…

______________________________________

"NO! Obsidian! We have to go back!" Julia struggled to release herself from Obsidian's iron grip, "Obsidian!"

"We cannot!" Obsidian landed in the forest and set Julia down; she had been struggling too much for her to fly properly, "There is nothing more we can do!"

"No! We can't just leave her! Please!" Julia whimpered.

As Obsidian opened her mouth to speak a loud tremor shook the ground. Turning to the temple, the two women suddenly saw the temple begin to shake uncontrollably. Within moments, the entire structure had collapsed, sending broken stones and dust everywhere, coating the entire clearing. The massive pile of boulders lay there.

Once a mighty tribute to the perseverance and victory of the human race, the temple was now nothing more than a shattered dream. Once again the world would be left in the hand of a brutal race.

"Oh no," Julia suddenly choked.

Before the dust could settle, another tremor shook the air.

The temple's crumbled walls suddenly exploded. From underneath the sad rubble demons burst through. They shot into the air and after hovering for a few moments took off in random directions. Some went north, some south, and other still, went east and west; they sought to once again claim superiority over the HumanRealm.

"Hush! Don't make a sound!" Obsidian pulled Julia down into the ferns, "We have to find somewhere to hide," she looked thoughtful for a moment, "A small village would be ideal. The demons will not bother with small locales. In order for them to extend their reach into this world they will have to destroy all large cities."

Julia had her hand over her mouth in the attempt to muffle her sobs.

Obsidian turned to her, "The village that is nearby would work for the time being. Now please do not fidget…it makes it harder for me to fly."

Julia nodded once and Obsidian picked her up and jumped into the air.

People were screaming.

Women were running for cover as they saw the enormous figures of demons flash through the skies.

Obsidian landed and set Julia down. They looked around at the small village; it was in utter turmoil. Suddenly several men with razor sharp machetes appeared; prepared to defend their families and homes. As they glanced around they caught sight of Obsidian.

They began to shout and rushed at her in a fury. Julia turned her head and saw the men. In the attempt to make they see that she meant no harm, Julia stepped forward with her hands up.

"No! No! She's not going to hurt you!"

The men had not even noticed Julia, but when they saw her they stood dead in their tracks; astonishment filled their faces. One of the men began to yell again and gestured wildly at Obsidian, who had taken several steps back; ready to take flight if need be.

At that moment a boy stepped out of one of the nearby huts and hurried over to the armed men. He spoke to them frantically and then, hesitantly, the men stepped away to go find danger elsewhere.

"Quickly! Come with me! The others will be harder to convince!" the boy said with a wild look in his eyes. Julia simply nodded and followed the boy; Obsidian trailing behind. They entered one of the unused huts and the boy shut the door quickly.

"Thank you!" Julia said gratefully, "Thank you so much!"

"No problem," the boy looked at Julia as if trying to recognize her, "You are the friend aren't you?"

"Friend?" Julia's brows furrowed.

"Yes. The friend named Julia!" his eyes flared in excitement.

"How do you know my name?!"

"Your friend came here. Your friend Verity," the boy's mouth fell open slightly as he took a deep breath, "She came here looking for the demon so that he could help her find you!"

"Demon?….Wait! Are you talking about Jin!" Obsidian looked at Julia whose eyes had widened in alarm.

"Yes! The demon called Jin! They left here about two weeks ago. They went back to your home!"

"Back? To Arizona?" Julia's heart dropped. Jin wasn't nearby; he was on another continent altogether. It would be impossible to make it to the nearest airport and board a plane back home. The demons had a significant head start; they would make it to the big cities and the airports would undoubtedly be destroyed before they had even set foot outside the village.

Obsidian spoke up, "It will take a week, at the very least, to make a trip that far." She knew the same thing that Julia did.

The boy looked at them worriedly, "Well then you better get going."

"Yes. We should leave immediately. The demons will be too preoccupied with their destructive rampage to notice us traveling," Obsidian stated; knowing full well the nature of the demon mind. She began to make her way to the door.

Julia nodded quickly and began to follow. Before she go to the door she turned around, "Thank you, again."

"Don't mention it. Jin saved my life and since it is very difficult to find a way to repay him, I will help you. Verity said that you were his girlfriend, so…helping you will be like helping him," he said cheerfully.

Julia smiled, "Thank you."

"Oh! And when you see him tell him that Keeroh says congratulations!" he pointed to her swollen belly, "He's the father, right?"

Julia looked down at her stomach and nodded, "Yes. He is." She was taken aback by his quick observation. Although it wasn't hard to see that she was pregnant, the fact that he knew Jin was the father had surprised her.

"Come Julia. The sooner we leave the better," Obsidian insisted quietly.

"Yes. Let's go home."

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Reunion"**_


	20. Reunion

Disclaimer: Tekken is mine only in my dreams…

A/n: Hey...what happened to my reviewers??...O_O

Reunion

Julia looked up to the apartment complex in longing, tears blurring her vision, "God. It's so good to be home. I just hope that Jin and Verity are here…I don't know where else to look."

Obsidian smiled, "He's here. I can sense him and he can undoubtedly sense me so…"she motioned for her to go ahead, "Shall we?"

"Yes. Of course!" Julia's heart began to beat rapidly and her breathing quickened as she stepped forward.

________________________________________

Verity stood out on the balcony, gazing upon the nearly deserted city. After news had gotten out of the demon invasion, the people in the big cities had been evacuated. Now the only people that were left were the ones who would rather die at home. The demons had apparently seen that Phoenix was not worth wasting time with and so it had been ignored. Now the only people that were anywhere close to being safe were the people who had stayed. How ironic…

As she looked out at the mass of abandoned cars that had been left in the streets, Verity could hear Jin talking on the phone, clearly frustrated. He was speaking to his associates back in Tokyo, so he was speaking Japanese and she couldn't understand him. After one last aggravated response, Jin hung up the phone and tossed it aside.

Verity walked back inside and was almost afraid to talk to Jin. No, she wasn't afraid because he looked so freaking intimidating (he'd kept his human since from the day they had left the Amazon and boarded the next flight back to Arizona so he didn't look like he should be one of the things that should be shot down instantly…even so…)…she was afraid of hearing the same answer again.

Judging by the devastated look on his face…the answer _was_ the same. His private investigators still hadn't found anything…

and they said they were the best…yeah right…

Verity walked over to the couch and sat down, staring absently at the blank TV screen. She then looked over to Jin, who was sitting at the small kitchen table with his head in his hands, and then looked up at the photograph on the mantle.

The two of them had been there for the past three weeks seeking out people who could help them track down Julia. Jin had regained control of the Mishima Zaibatsu and now they had the entire contents of the main bank account to help them hire investigators. What they hadn't expected was the news of a demon invasion. Jin had been in shock…that wasn't possible…the demons needed _him_ to open the gateway… what had happened?

Verity was about to ask Jin if he would mind if she went out for a drive, when suddenly she heard him gasp and stand up, knocking the chair over.

"What!? What is it?!" Verity said as she saw him dash out of the kitchen and head for the door, "Hey! Jin!!"

Jin stopped at the door for a moment, looked back at her, and said only one thing before rushing out, "Obsidian."

Verity blinked _Obsidian?…the demoness who helped him back in the Amazon? Wait…she's practically his connection to the demon world…I bet she knows how those demons got out!!_ Verity hurried out after Jin.

She ran into him at the front entrance of the complex.

"Hey…where is she?" Verity noticed that he was staring intensely at something. She looked in the direction he was staring and gasped…no he wasn't staring at something…he was staring at someone…

Julia.

She was crying and had her hands to her mouth. Behind Julia was the demoness who Verity guessed was Obsidian.

But Julia looked so…different.

Before Verity could think of much more, Julia ran forward, and so did Jin. They met in an eager embrace and kissed in such a frenzy that you'd think they would do more than just make-out. The emotional outburst was so much that they both fell to their knees and cried.

Seeing that she might actually get a chance to hug her friend, Verity hurried forward. Julia looked up and reached to hug her too.

"Oh my God, Julia!" Verity sobbed, "I thought I'd never see you again! What happened?"

Julia was crying hard but she managed to utter a response, "It's….a …l-long…s-story…"

Verity hugged her harder and then pulled away to get a better look at her. It was then that she noticed what the significant difference was…she was…huge…

"Julia…why..why…are you…," a realization suddenly dawned upon Verity and she gasped, "Oh my God…Julia…are you…pregnant?!"

Jin's head, which had been on Julia's shoulder, snapped up to look briefly at Verity and then down at Julia's stomach. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. He tried to say something but words failed him and he simply gaped. He'd been so overwhelmed with the fact that Julia was safe and sound that he hadn't even noticed her swollen stomach.

Julia looked at them both with teary eyes, and with a smile, nodded, "Five months…"

Jin looked into Julia's eyes and again tried to say something…but again…couldn't. Julia smiled and put her hand to Jin's cheek, "You're going to be a dad, Jin."

He closed his mouth and again pulled her into a hug, silent tears running down his smiling face.

_______________________________________

A few hours later, after Julia had taken a much needed bath (a week of near-non-stop travel had left her exhausted and covered in grime) Jin had insisted she sleep. At first she refused, saying that she had to tell them what had happened. However, Jin, Verity, _and _Obsidian said that there would be plenty of time for that the following day. When she refused, again, Jin simply picked her up and took her back to her room. Julia tried to get back up but Jin wouldn't let her, and after a few minutes she relented, letting sleep take her.

The following morning…or rather, afternoon, Julia woke to find Jin lying next to her with his arm wrapped around her stomach. When he felt her stir he smiled, "Good afternoon, Jules."

"Afternoon? Really?" she turned to her side slightly.

"Yeah," he reached up to brush away the stray strands of hair that had gotten out of her ponytail.

After a few minutes of simply gazing at each other, Jin finally spoke, "So you wanted to tell us exactly what happened? I tried to get some of the story out of Obsidian but she wouldn't say a word and told me to wait for you to tell me and Verity."

Julia sighed, "Yeah. Is Verity up yet? I know she likes to sleep in."

Jin laughed once, "She's been up since before I was."

"And when was that?"

"Around six thirty this morning."

"What?" Julia sat up, "Really?"

"Really," he smiled, "She's outside admiring my car... again."

"Your car? Now it has to be an impressive one for Verity to have gone out to drool over," Julia said with humor.

"Well. I don't think so…but she does," he slid out of her bed and went to go sit down in her desk chair while she got dressed.

"So what kind of car is it again?" Julia dragged herself out and searched through her closet for something that would fit.

Jin shrugged, "A Hummer."

Julia turned to look at him eyebrows raised, "A Hummer?" he nodded, "H1, H2, or H3?"

He sighed, "H1...I know, I know…I've got a gas-guzzler….but it's the only practical thing around here right now. You never know when you have to go off-road or plow through some cheap aluminum sorry-excuses-for-cars."

Julia laughed and finished getting dressed. Then she had Obsidian virtually pry Verity away from her "dream car" so that she could tell them all about what had happened over the last three and a half months.

Julia told them about the commune of demons and their spying. Apparently the scouts had found Jin and Julia because Veldor had sent them himself instead of having his commander send someone, like he usually did. Therefore, Obsidian had never been sent. The commander didn't know about the scouts. She also told them about the commander herself. How she was Jin's twin sister and how she had infiltrated the demons' world by hiding her true identity. Although the demons _did_ know that she was a half-breed, the fact that she had a deadly power had forgone all previous prejudices. Julia saddened greatly when she came to the part about the Gateway and Jaez' sacrifice. Her death had been the reason that the gate had been opened and that the demons now terrorized the world once again.

Julia began to cry and Jin held her, "Julia. It's okay now. We're together again and you and the babies are safe. We will find a way to close that thing…Jaez' sacrifice will not be forgotten nor will it be taken in vain," he pressed a kiss onto her head and then said, "I'm taking us all out of here."

Verity was surprised, "Out of here? Where to?"

"To Japan. It will be easier to coordinate with the Tekken Forces from there. That's where they're stationed so…"

"Coordinate? For what?" Julia inquired.

"For a counterattack," Jin looked briefly at everyone, "against the demons.

"There's no way they are going to get away with destroying this world. It's ours. Not theirs."

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Chaos"**_


	21. Chaos

Disclaimer: Only Namco Bandai owns Tekken…and it looks like I've found a different way to say that in each one of my chapters…lol…

A/n: BTW; has anyone read my other fic..review it if you have! otherwise i don't think i'll update...D:

Chaos

A month later, the world had fallen into complete chaos. The deadly World Wars had nothing on this one. This was more than a World War…it was a world at war with a race that cared very little for humanity…

At first, there was nothing but disorder. The largest of the cities fell…every military stronghold was targeted…All of the nations had held their own for a few days, but it became apparent very quickly that there needed to be more…there needed to be cooperation. Setting aside whatever hatreds or disagreements they had with each other, the human race banded together. There was no longer room for secrets or discontent.

The demons had not expected humanity to retaliate. To be honest, they had thought that the tales of the last invasion had been engraved into the stones of eternity, where they would not be forgotten. How could a realm have _forgotten_ its near destruction?? It had happened only 3000 years ago…

To the demons, three thousand years was nothing. Many of them could live twice that. They were a near-immortal race that could watch as time warped itself around them with no effect on their countenance.

Time. A word that held a different meaning to them…time was nothing.

However, time is what turned out to be Earth's greatest ally, its greatest accomplice.

Time had brought to the human race a new meaning to the word "war." The mere mention of spears and swords brought a feeling of antiquity and frailty. No. The human race was beyond those crude weapons of times past. Now they had what could indeed harm the demons.

The weapons they had now could pierce through their armor and pick them off from great distances. With the advancements made in the field of warfare, humans were far more of a problem than had ever been thought possible. Attacking en masse, the humans were a far worthier opponent than they had been centuries ago.

Humanity had been underestimated…and the demons had been overestimated…

__________________

"Are you kidding me?" Verity walked into the living room with a DVD in her hand, "You're still trying to learn Japanese? I would've given up long ago…all those weird symbols are too confusing…" she said as she saw Julia and Obsidian sitting on the couch with numerous papers lying around.

Julia shook her head in silent laughter, "I knew you would say something like that…But you _do _realize that we are currently living in Japan and that it would probably be a good idea to know the language?"

"Yeah…well…bite me," Verity retorted as she walked over to the DVD player and popped in the movie she had brought in, "I don't think I'm going to come stay here forever so English will do just fine for me."

"What are you going to watch, Ver?" Julia questioned as the opening previews began.

"The Matrix Revolutions," she shrugged, "I thought that I'd watch a movie about humanity's downfall at the hands of a killer race…"

Julia frowned, "You _do _realize that to see something like that you just have to turn on the TV to the local news channel?"

Verity shook her finger at Julia, "Uh. Uh. Uh. Not the _local _channels remember… technically only the _international _news channels. We got lucky. Japan was thought _waaay _too small to be much of a threat and so we've been left alone for the past month."

Julia nodded slightly, "Yeah. Lucky." She picked up the papers and set them on the coffee table before turning to prop her legs up on it. Sighing, she readjusted the pillow she was leaning back on and wrapped her arms around her belly. Verity went to go sit on the recliner at one end of the sofa and Obsidian stayed in her spot sitting on the floor. The three of them watched in silence and after the movie was over, they turned off the TV and simply sat there.

"I hope our war has an end…a good end," Verity mused.

"Don't we all," Obsidian said in her peculiar voice.

"Oh!" Julia suddenly cried out slightly. Verity and Obsidian turned to her quickly.

"What is it?" Verity questioned with amusement, "Are your babies having a little brawl with each other again?"

"Yeah. I think so," Julia smiled, "Actually I think they're having a little brawl with me…" she laughed.

"Feisty ones, aren't they?" Obsidian said with humor; Julia nodded, "You know…I wonder what those two will be like _after _they're born. I can almost guarantee you that they'll be one hell of a handful…"

Verity agreed with Obsidian, "No doubt."

All three of them began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jin had just walked in.

"Oh. Nothing," Julia's smile widened as she saw him, "We're just wondering what the babies will be like after they're born."

"Really? And your deductions lead to…what?" he sat down next to Julia and bent over to kiss her.

"Well. I say that they will be a nearly uncontrollable pair," Obsidian remarked.

"And why is that?" Jin said with a slight grin.

"She says it's because they never stop 'brawling' with each other," Julia answered.

"Is that so?" Jin laughed once, "It doesn't seem that way to me." He bent down to kiss Julia's stomach.

"Well they always seem to stop fidgeting when you're around," Julia mused as she reached down to stroke his hair, "So I don't think you've ever actually witnessed one of their little inner 'scuffles'."

Verity laughed, "I could swear those two _know _when you're near."

Obsidian also chuckled, "Maybe it's because they do."

Jin raised his head, put it on Julia's shoulder and then sighed as he closed his eyes.

"What is it? You seem kind of tired," Julia questioned as she leaned her head against his.

"I am. I hardly got any sleep last night and I had a busy day at the Zaibatsu."

Julia frowned, "Yeah…I felt you moving around a lot last night."

"Was it the stupid voice again?" Verity asked with an odd look.

She was still hesitant when it came to believing that Jin had a demon's spirit sharing his headspace. He had been forced to reveal that particular fact to Verity and Obsidian when the devil had been particularly obnoxious and Jin had responded aloud to him. Julia had known since they had been in the Amazon, so it was no big shock, although it did sadden her. Since Obsidian was a demon herself, she could actually hear him so she had no trouble believing Jin.

"He was part of it," Jin responded.

"And the other part?" Obsidian and Julia said simultaneously.

"I'm kind of worried."

"About what?" Concern laced Julia's voice.

"The Gateway," he sat up straight, "Apparently there is some sort of counterattack down in South America. Guerilla forces of some kind. They are not trained and we do not have a way to contact them easily. They simply attack the demons as they come out and then run off. A deadly approach if you ask me. To be honest, we can't send troops down there for risk of them being taken out by accident.

"They _are _gaining significant headway…which is amazing… but since they aren't really organized and attack at will, they pose a danger to all who could try to go down to help them," Jin sighed and rubbed his temples.

"They are cutting them off at the source?" Obsidian was surprised.

"Yeah. Their leader, if she can be called that, goes by the alias 'Reaper.' Personally I think she may have some sort of death wish if she's commanding forces down there," Jin shook his head.

Julia and Obsidian gasped and stared at Jin.

"What?" Jin saw their astonished looks. Verity also turned to look at them with a confused expression.

"Did you say…Reaper?…" Obsidian questioned quietly.

"Yeah…why?"

Obsidian looked over at Julia, who was gaping, "…Reaper?"

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Oooo…Reaper??? Now who could this be?? Isn't Jaez dead?? Find out tomorrow!

_**Next Chapter: "Reaper"**_


	22. Reaper

Disclaimer: I will own Tekken only when I become a zillionaire…

Reaper

Bullets whistled by as the demons came out of the portal in waves.

"Don't let any of them get away! Get them all!" a man bellowed as he reloaded his handgun, "Hold the line!"

Several people dashed out from under the cover of the ferns and ran forward. Armed with AK-47s, they shot down nearly a dozen of the demons, but unfortunately just as many rose high into the sky.

"Freeze!" another man bellowed his name.

"What?!" Freeze turned around while reaching for his second handgun.

"We can't keep this up much longer! We're almost out of munitions! You need to seal that stupid thing NOW!" the man cried as he mounted his rifle to his shoulder and fired.

"Damn it! Cover me!" Freeze yelled back at the miniature army at his back. Racing out of the cover that the thick trees provided, he headed for the pile of rubble that surrounded the ten-foot wide gateway. More bullets screamed past him and hit their marks with sickening cracks. A demon saw him running and dove down at him. Freeze heard the whooshing of its dive and threw himself behind a large stone. In that moment the demon crashed headlong into the ground. He heaved himself up, but before he could take a swing at Freeze several rifle rounds clipped him in the head, sending blood everywhere. The demon's massive body crashed down and ceased to move.

Suddenly several projectiles exploded around Freeze. Electricity filled the air and he could feel his hair stand on end.

"Damn. The Endowed demons!" Freeze cursed as several creatures launched balls of energy at him from afar. He crouched behind a broken wall and waited for his chance. Holding his hand out in front of him, Freeze narrowed his eyes and a semi-transparent azure sphere about three and a half inches in diameter coalesced above his palm. The moment he heard a pause in the demons' attack, he stood up in a flash and threw the sphere.

"Come on! Hit it!" Freeze muttered as he saw the blue orb soar through the air. Before it could hit the hovering creatures, one demon struck it with a bright orange laser.

"Yes!" Freeze exclaimed and he ran to the gate. The blue orb exploded and instead of being concentrated in just one spot, the freezing fluid spread through the air, striking nearly all of the demons at once. They were stunned. They hadn't expected thatto happen.

The air froze and so did the demons. As those demons plummeted to the ground, the demons that had narrowly avoided becoming ice sculptures demons shrieked and retreated. The ones who had been caught in the cold wave crashed into the muddy ground and shattered. Glass-like ice crystals fell around them and a thin layer of frost covered the entire clearing.

Jumping over a collapsed column, Freeze managed to make it to the portal. He could hear the rushing sound as demons from the other side tried to make their way through. Not waiting to see any of them pop out, Freeze quickly formed another bigger, cerulean sphere in between both hands and cast it forward. The moment it hit the Gateway an enormous sheet of glacial rock formed between the two horns. He heard it shudder as the demons crashed into it on the other side.

Freeze fell to his knees in exhaustion. He could feel blood trickling down his forehead from a gash that had formed when the endowed demons had exploded the stones around him. His eye stung as the crimson liquid flowed into it. Outside, the gunfire had ceased. Freeze heaved himself up until he was standing and then walked out of the ruins.

One of the men scrambled forward, "Are you OK Freeze?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. The ice should keep them out for at least two days. Make sure you get plenty of ammunition meanwhile," Freeze lumbered forward into the forest.

"Yessir!" the man took off in the other direction.

"Hey!" Freeze called back to the man, who whirled around, "Post a couple of sentries near the gate. I don't want to take any chances with those fiends getting through. Tell them to sound an alarm if the ice starts cracking."

"Yessir" the man repeated and ran off.

Freeze made his way back to camp a couple miles into the forest, near the river. Several of the makeshift soldiers saluted him as he walked by. Striding into camp, he made a direct line for the largest of the tents that were pitched up. The two guards that were posted outside saluted him as he came into view. Freeze nodded and pulled aside the flaps to walk in.

Lying in a cot, wrapped tightly in numerous, bloody bandages was a woman. She turned to Freeze as he came in and saluted her.

"How'd it go?" she questioned.

"Pretty good considering who we're fighting," Freeze walked over and sat in the chair near her bed.

"How many did we lose?" she said solemnly.

"Nearly a dozen. And about twice that are going to be in pain for a very long while," Freeze sighed and shook his head.

A devastated look crossed the woman's face.

"How did we lose so many?" she turned to him with an incredulous look on her face.

"They sent out the Endowed."

"Damn it!" she punched the pillow next to her.

"I sealed the Gateway…for now. It should hold up for a couple days…so,"

"Good. We need to get more munitions and train the younger ones a little more…I've heard that they are horrible shots…" she winced as her injuries flashed in pain when she spoke fiercely.

"Yeah," he nodded, "…and how are you faring Reaper?"

"Ugh…pretty much the same," her face distorted in pain.

Freeze shook his head, "How can it be that those wounds haven't sealed yet, Jaez?"

Jaez relaxed as the pain subsided, "The demons' swords were laced with something…they're keeping me from healing."

"Can I do anything for you?" Freeze inquired as her face distorted again.

"No. You've done enough already. You should get some rest, you look like you need it," she forced a smile through her pain.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. You go get some sleep."

Freeze nodded and walked out of the tent.

Jaez lay there staring at the lamp that hung from the ceiling of the tent. The heat in her chest and stomach flared again and she bit her lip to keep from groaning aloud. Suddenly she felt a cold presence near her.

"Hey Death…what's up?" she said in a strained voice.

A quiet, whisper-like response came, "not much…but you seem to be in pain again.."

Jaez laughed once, "Really?"

No response.

"Hey…did you really have to take nearly a dozen of my men? I need them you know?" Jaez commented in annoyance.

"it was their time…"

Jaez shook her head, "But I _need_ them."

"i'm sorry…but you and i both know that i can't bring them back…"

"Yeah…I know," she turned her head to the vaporous being beside her, "But could you spare the wounded ones that are _still_ alive?"

"perhaps…"

After a few moments of silence, Jaez spoke, "Thanks for not taking me…"

If Death were capable of smiling, Jaez was sure that he would have, "you are very much like a daughter to me…i would never take you knowing that you could do so much for this world and me…my dear…"

Jaez smiled, "And thanks for loaning me your memories of what happened after I wound up with two swords stuck through me…"

"of course…" slowly the ghostly figure began to dissipate, "take care…"

"See ya…"

After he had left, Jaez closed her eyes and replayed the events that had followed her "demise."

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: ha…I hadn't actually planned to make Death an actual "being" but it just worked out that way…XD

_**Next Chapter: "Death's Memory"**_


	23. Death's Memory

Death's Memory

Shrieks pierced through the air as waves of demons soared through the Gateway. Chance. At last they had regained their chance to claim the human realm as their own. All of the demons that had awaited obstinately for the past several centuries had at last gotten their reward.

Of course, not ALL of the demons of the realm had been awaiting tensely behind that sealed wall. Word would spread soon enough, but at the moment the only ones who had crossed over were the ones who believed the sealed rift could be torn open again.

In the considerably brief time in between the believers' and the opportunists' flight, another people left the DemonRealm: the humans.

Only, they weren't entirely human. Not anymore. They were all half-breeds.

"Go! Go! Go!" a voice was heard through the dull silence of the demons' absence.

Taking their chance at finally escaping, the descendants of the humans that had been taken as prisoners-of-war three thousand years ago ran madly through the portal. Not caring about the bloody corpses that surrounded the gate…they ran. Freedom! It was finally theirs.

Dozens of feet pounded the ground as they scurried away.

One of the humans jumped through the gate and stopped.

"Incredible," he gazed out at the bright green forest.

"Freeze! What are you doing!" a woman called out to him. She jogged up and grabbed his arm, "Come on! The demons could come through any minute!"

"But it's all so…" he gawked.

"You'll have all the time in the world to look at it… later!" she quickly looked to the ominous light of the portal.

As he was about to relent and run off, something caught his eye.

"Wait! Look…" he pointed at the crumpled form of a winged creature.

"What!"

"It's one of us!" he started to walk toward the figure.

The woman gaped at him, "No she's not!"

"How do you know?"

"Just look at her!" the woman cried fiercely, "She may be pale skinned…just like us. But she's in her dark form!" she grabbed his arm and forced him to face her, "She is NOT one of us!"

Another man appeared, "What are you two _doing_?"

The woman's face showed instant relief, "You have to help me get Freeze out of here! He thinks that the wounded hybrid over there is one of us!"

"Freeze! Enough of this madness. We have to get out of here!" the man said sternly, "She was clearly working for the others…look at her…she has embraced her demon side. She can't be good news. Let her be!"

"No!" Freeze spat, "I don't care what you think or believe. She is just like us. Just because she has _not _renounced who she is does not mean that she can't be worth saving!"

"Freeze…!"

"No. I am going to help her…We ALL have demon blood running through our veins…it is not something that we can deny! It is part of us!" Freeze exclaimed.

"I have had enough of you and your philosophies Freeze! Embrace who we are? Embrace the fact that we are part demons? Do you not see what ridiculous ideas those are? We are HUMAN…we are who we want to be!" he growled.

"Then I am going to do what I want! …I am who _**I **_want to be **not **who _**you **_want me to be!" Freeze retorted.

The man and the woman looked at Freeze with disgust and then left him.

Freeze ran over to the demoness' rumpled form and kneeled beside her.

"Oh no," he said in defeat as he saw her tattered throat and gaping chest wounds, "She's dead."

Looking around he saw an enormous pool of blood and the small tributaries that had formed around it.

_It's ALL her blood… _Freeze thought in shock. Gazing down at the demoness he suddenly something that was impossible: her chest was rising and falling…very slowly…but surely.

"What?" Freeze stared. Hesitantly he lowered his head to her chest and held it right above her.

Her heart was still beating.

"This can't be!" Freeze gasped, "No half-breed could _still _be alive with wounds like _that_…"

After a few moments of deliberation he reached down and picked her up. If he could do something for her…then he would. Quickly making his way to the dense forest, he tried to follow the path left by the others who had escaped. After hiking for several exhausting miles, he finally found the simple makeshift camp.

"Freeze! What are you doing here!" the woman from before saw him, "You brought her?! O Gods…she's dead!"

Freeze shook his head angrily, "No. She's not. Her heart is still beating…I need to bandage her wounds as quickly as possible!"

"Then I wish you luck in finding someone that will be willing to help you…" the woman said in contempt before walking away.

*A few days later *

"I really don't know why you believe that she will wake," a boy said sadly as he looked over to the demoness' body, lying down on the reed mat. He handed Freeze a bowl of food.

"Neither do I," Freeze said as he reached over for his dinner.

As the two of them ate in silence, suddenly they heard a noise. No not a noise…a moan. Both guys sat there with their spoons up near their mouths. They looked at each other and then down at the demoness.

The boy dropped his spoon, "She's awake!"

*A week later*

"How are you feeling?" Freeze asked the demoness. He handed her a small gourd-cup filled with water.

The demoness nodded slightly as she took a slow sip. Although the injury to her throat had healed remarkably fast, she had not regained her ability to speak. Her other wounds were a different story. They had not healed…even in the slightest.

The following day, Freeze walked back into her tent to bring her something to eat.

"Here. I know you don't have much of an appetite and that it probably hurts to eat but…" he handed her a small bowl filled with hot soup.

"No…" came the hoarse reply. Freeze's jaw dropped.

"You can talk?!"

"yes…" she winced as she spoke.

"I thought that you would never speak again…"

"We need to stop them…" the demoness said weakly but sternly.

"What?" Freeze was surprised. She got right to the point.

"We need to stop the demons…"

"We?" he raised and eyebrow.

"We. Anyone who can help," her voice cracked, "I can help you…but we need fighters…"

"Are you crazy?!" Freeze interjected, "You're coming back from the brink of death and you want to go fight again?!"

The demoness bowed her head, "_I'm _the reason they're here…_I'm _the reason that fucking gate opened…_my _blood broke the seal," she looked up, "and _I'm _going to be one of the reasons they won't get what they want." Her eyes narrowed in anger.

Freeze just gaped.

The demoness glanced in his direction, "Well? Are you going to help me…or am I going to have to do this on my own?" She grimaced again.

Freeze bit his lip while he pondered the demoness' little proposal. In truth, he didn't have much reason to help her…he didn't even know her…but it seemed as if she had her mind set.

He nodded, "I'll help you find people willing to fight."

"Great," she sighed, and then reached her hand out to him, "I'm…Reaper…by the way."

He looked at her hand in confusion.

She let out a small laugh, "It's a greeting…You're supposed to grasp my hand and shake…"

"Ah…" he reached forward and shook her hand.

"And you are…?"

"Oh…My name is Freeze."

Reaper gave him a small smile, "Nice to meet you…and…thank you for what you've done for me."

He smiled back, "There's no need to thank me…I just did what I believed was right."

And so…the counterattack began…

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: And so Reaper is back in business! So to speak…XD

Many "thank you"s to all who have reviewed and commented! ILY!!


	24. Operation: Retrieval

Disclaimer: Tekken belongs only to Namco Bandai…

Operation: Retrieval

"She is alive?!" Obsidian exclaimed, standing up quickly.

Jin was still confused, "Who?"

"Reaper!"

"Who is Reaper?" Verity interjected before Jin could formulate that very question.

"Jaez!" Julia drew in a sharp breath, "The demons called Jaez 'Reaper.' It could be her!"

Jin shook his head, "I thought you said that you saw Jaez die…"

"That's what I thought too!" Julia pressed a hand to her forehead, "But for all we know…she wasn't dead when we left her…she could be alive!"

"Alive?" Obsidian whispered, "Reaper could be alive?"

All four of them were silent for several minutes. Jin stared at the floor; Julia and Verity stared at him; Obsidian stared out the window with the look of someone that wanted to do something but didn't know what.

Jin finally looked up, "I'm going to go look for her."

Julia's eyes widened, "What?"

"I'm going to go see if this 'Reaper' is Jan-Izumi," he said firmly.

"No," Obsidian retorted_, "I_ will."

Jin stood up, "No. _You _will stay here. To keep Julia safe. _I _will go find my sister."

Julia stood up as well and reached for his arm, "No. Don't go. I don't want you to go down there. It's too dangerous!" Her eyes were full of terror.

"Julia. I have to. I can't just send someone…she's my sister for crying out loud!"

"But…But…you have to stay…you can't just up and leave the Zaibatsu and the counterattack!" Julia tried to find something that would force him to realize that he had to stay.

Jin shook his head, "I'll have Lars take over for the time being. He knows as much of the army and strategies as I do. Truth be told…he probably knows more."

"Please. Jin. Not you," Silent tears began to fall down her face, "You could run into the other demons…they could kill you Jin."

He pulled her into his arms as she started to sob. Julia buried her face into his chest as he pressed his cheek against her head.

"Julia…" he started.

"I d-don't w-want to lose you…" she whispered through her sobs.

"You won't lose me. I promise," he said quietly.

An hour later, Jin and Julia were in their bedroom. Jin was making a few phone calls while Julia sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, looking at him . She manage to catch only a few words since he was talking so fast.

He hung up the phone and then turned to Julia, "All right. That's taken care of. Lars will temporarily take my place while I go down to the Amazon. I shouldn't be gone for very long though."

Julia nodded silently while running her hand across her belly. She still had that sad look on her face. He walked over and sat next to her; she put her head to his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Julia. Please try to understand…" he began.

"No, Jin…It's not that I don't understand…I understand perfectly, but," she took in a deep breath, "I just wish you would send someone instead of going yourself."

Jin nodded, "Yeah, I know. But we're talking about my sister here. The sister I didn't even know _existed_."

Julia said nothing. She was simply lying there in his arms.

"I wonder though…" Jin ran his hand through Julia's hair, "how exactly am I supposed to recognize her? I've never met her."

Julia laughed once at this statement, "That's easy. Just look for a Jun look-alike."

"Come again?" they pulled away enough to look at each other's face.

"Jaez told me once that she looks like your mom in the same way that you look like your dad. Hence, look for a Jun look-alike," she gave him a small smile.

He smiled back, "I guess identifying her won't be the hard part, will it?"

"I want you to do something before you leave though, Jin," Julia gazed into his eyes.

"What?"

She gave him a one-sided smile, "Sleep."

He laughed, "Julia. I'm going to have plenty of time to sleep on the flight over."

"No. I want to be one hundred percent sure that you get some about of rest _before_ you leave tonight."

He nodded, "All right. I'll sleep."

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: Another short chapter I know…but it turns out that trying to whip up two chapters a night is harder than I thought… o_O….The way I've got it planned…I've still got a ways to go…

*sighs* Some of the future chapters will probably make up for this short one…I'm sure of it…

_Next chapter: "Reaper and Resurrector"_


	25. Reaper and Resurrector

Disclaimer: Tekken is respectfully Namco Bandai's

A/n: I ran out of long chapters….*sighs*…they'll probably be pretty short from here on out..

I'll do my best to make them at least 1000 words long….though…I can't guarantee anything…

Reaper and Resurrector

----_So this is the place..eh? Looks like a bunch of boy scouts decided to go camping…_

"Ugh…be quiet!" Jin snapped at the devil. He was standing in a tree about a fifty yards from the main encampment. The men who guarded the outer perimeter were equipped with automatic weapons.

----_Why? They can't hear me…they're just humans…" _the demon chided.

"Just don't bother me with your thoughts unless you want me to end up with more holes than Swiss cheese…"

----_Ah…Swiss cheese…you'd be one hell of a sight to see…_ he laughed.

Suddenly the men nearest them perked their heads up and raised their weapons. They turned themselves in Jin's direction and aimed into the forest's shrubbery. One of the men quickly retreated further into the encampment; no doubt to get reinforcements.

"What did I tell you?" Jin spat, "You should have shut up!" To this the demon said nothing and settled for just watching the events unfold.

Without warning several gunshots were heard echoing through the trees. Jin felt a bullet graze his right arm as he ducked under the cover of a large trunk.

"Shit!" Jin could feel a stinging sensation spreading from the bullet wound. A thin warm trail of red found itself dripping down his shoulder. He suddenly heard a loud voice echoing through the fronds.

"What is going on?"

"We have an intruder Freeze. We think it's a demon…possibly two."

"Demon?"

"Yes."

"Did you get a good look at them?"

"No sir…we just heard them arguing."

"Only two demons?"

"Yes sir. Like I said, we heard them bickering."

"Way to go Devil…" Jin hissed, "Looks like they _can _hear you."

"There…did you hear that, Sir?" one of the men spoke up.

"Yes," Freeze responded and then raised his voice, "You! In the trees! What do you want?"

"I mean you no harm," Jin shouted out from behind the tree trunk, "I'm here in search of someone."

"Whether you mean harm or not is irrelevant. I _am _going to tell you that if you or your buddy try anything stupid…you will be shot down. You are outnumbered," Freeze offered as an ultimatum, "Come out from behind the tree…slowly."

Jin nodded to himself and then stood up. He stepped out from behind the tree with his hands out in front of him. The men stiffened as they saw him and cocked their weapons.

"Where is your companion?" Freeze questioned.

"My companion?" Jin asked, "I'm here alone…"

"The one you were arguing with. My men overheard the two of you. Now…where is he?" Freeze demanded.

"You've got to be kidding me," Jin said in disbelief and then pointed to his head, "He's up here."

Freeze frowned, "Do not play games with me demon. Where is your companion?"

Jin also frowned, "I told you…he…he's in my head…he doesn't have a body of his own so the parasite is sharing mine…"

----_Parasite?! I am no parasite, boy! I am the reason you are standing here alive!_ the demon snapped.

The men were startled as they heard the demon shout at Jin. Jin just shook his head, "Will you please shut up and let me handle this!"

He turned to the armed men, "Look. I just came to see if someone I…knew…was here."

Freeze looked at Jin warily, "Who are you looking for?"

"A woman…by the name of 'Reaper'," Jin responded.

Freeze gazed at Jin coldly, "Reaper? Why do you seek her? Who are you?"

"My name is Jin. And I need to see her to confirm a…suspicion…that I have about her. Nothing more," Jin tried to say calmly.

Freeze stared at Jin for several more minutes before speaking, "Very well. But I warn you: if you try to do _anything_ to her…I will not hesitate to kill you. Follow me."

Freeze led Jin, who was being trailed by a half dozen armed guerilla soldiers, to the center of the camp. They made their way to the largest of the tents. Men and women gazed incredulously and fearfully as they saw Jin escorted down the main pathway. They whispered and pointed; eyes wide.

"Here we are," Freeze stopped in front of the main flap. He turned around to face Jin, "Remember what I said demon."

"Hard to forget," Jin said with a frown.

Freeze also frowned and then pulled up the flap; gesturing to Jin to walk in. Jin looked once at Freeze before stepping in.

Jin was speechless. There, lying in the bed at the far end of the room….was his sister.

----_Son of a bitch…_ Devil cursed as he saw Reaper.

_Julia was right. She really does look like Mother…_Jin thought.

----_I'll be damned…you have a fucking sister…_

Freeze walked up beside Jin, "I'm afraid you're going to have to wait until she wakes up, demon."

In that moment, Reaper stirred. Jin and Freeze looked over at her quickly.

She opened her eyes slowly and gazed toward the entrance of the tent. As her sight fell upon Jin she smiled.

"Well. Look who we have here," she said softly. Jin walked forward as Freeze looked on suspiciously, "Jin…"

"Jan-Izumi?" Jin said quietly.

She grinned, "Call me Jaez."

He stood over near her bed. As she slowly began to sit up, Jin and Freeze both protested.

"Jaez. You're still weak. Don't get up," Freeze said.

"Don't…" Jin began as he saw her face distort in pain.

Instead Jaez shook her head, "Nah…I'm fine."

The three of them stood (and sat) there in a rather awkward silence. Finally Jaez raised an eyebrow and said, "Well…what are you waiting for?"

Jin looked at her with a confused expression.

Jaez continued, "What kind of a way is _this_ to greet your long lost twin?"

Jin laughed once and stepped forward to give her a hug, "Nice to finally meet you, Jaez."

"Likewise, Jin"

_____________________________________________________

A/n: The Kazama twins finally meet! ^_^ Yay!…lol…review pplz!!!

_**Next Chapter: "That's The Problem"**_


	26. That's The Problem

Disclaimer: Tekken is solely owned by Namco Bandai!!!

That's The Problem

*few days later*

"Well. Will you look at that. You look like you've been hit by a train," Jaez said with a smirk as she walked into the tent and then stood next to her brother, who was, at the moment, lying in bed.

Jin turned his head to her and frowned, "Well…just to let you know …I feel a lot worse than that."

Jaez laughed, "Aren't you the comedian."

He gave her a small smile and then added sarcastically, "That's what they say."

Jaez sat down at the foot of his bed, "I know that I'm probably starting to sound worse than a broken record but…I want to say thank you…again…and sorry."

"For the hundredth time Jaez…you don't have to thank me. You're my sister…," he paused, "Sorry? Why are you sorry?"

"For practically making you trade places with me. Look at yourself…you're the one who's weak and temporarily incapacitated now," she gestured at him with a wave of her hand.

"I'll be fine…healing you was more important than keeping myself on my feet," Jin countered, "If I hadn't come along you'd still be lying there with two huge gaping holes in your chest and stomach."

Jaez shrugged, "I wouldn't have died."

"But you wouldn't be able to do much more than if you _were_ dead," he frowned again and then sat up, "But like I said. I'll be fine in a couple of days and then we'll be on an even playing field."

Jaez nodded, "Well, I'll leave you to rest. I have to go help Freeze with the weapon's training of the amateurs."

"Be careful…don't let them shoot you…I wouldn't want to have to save your life _again_," he chided humorously.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." she said with a scathing look, "You see _that_. I am laughing hysterically at my comedic brother…" Then she gave him a smile and waved to him as she left the tent.

*Following week*

"Are you sure you want to stay here?" Jin asked again as he walked beside Jaez.

She nodded, "Yeah. I'm more useful around here than I could be back in Japan," she smiled, "Don't worry though…I can take care of myself."

Jin gave her an apprehensive look, "Yeah…like you did a very good job last time."

Jaez shook her head, "Those demons caught me by surprise while I was trying to save your _pregnant _girlfriend so…don't criticize. She's still alive because of me."

"And for that I'm going to be forever grateful to you," Jin stopped next to the small stream they had reached.

"Yeah…well…no problem. I would have willingly died to make sure those three got out alive," she turned to face him.

"You practically did," Jin pointed out.

"No. Death would not be so unkind as to take me before my time," she mused.

Jin gave her an odd look, "You talk about death like it's an actual…being."

Jaez smiled and then backtracked a bit, "No, no no no. Of course it's not an actual being. It's just that it…seems like that to me sometimes," she bit her lip slightly, hoping that Jin would believe her. She had a feeling that he would not take too kindly to knowing that Death was sentient.

"Hm…guess so," he looked out into the forest and ended that particular topic of conversation. Jaez kicked at a small rock with the toe of her boot and watched it plummet into the stream.

She looked back at her brother, "I guess…this is good-bye."

Jin nodded once, "Yeah. I guess it is," he turned to her. After a few moments of awkward silence, Jaez stepped forward to give him a hug.

"Take care of _yourself_," Jaez said, "And take good care of Julia."

They stepped back and Jin smiled, "Don't worry. I will."

"I know you two will make awesome parents," Jaez grinned.

Jin beamed, "Yeah…well…thanks. I sure hope so."

"I'll stay in touch as often as possible so you aren't left out of the loop for too long."

"You be sure to do that," Jin stepped away to go stand in the bright light of the gap in the canopy, "Until next time…Reaper."

She gave him a lopsided smile, "Until next time…Resurrector."

With those words, Jin silently spread his wings and launched himself into the air. Jaez jumped into the trees and watched him until he vanished from sight, "We have to get back to work, Freeze."

She looked down the length of the tree and saw her companion standing there gazing at her. He nodded once, and she jumped down.

________________________________________

"So Jaez is going to stay in the Amazon?" Julia inquired as Jin finished his lunch.

"Yeah. She said that she's going to do her best to cut off the majority of the fiends that escape through the portal. There is only so much she can do though," Jin took a drink of his soda.

"But I thought you said that her buddy, Freeze, sealed the portal?" Verity asked, clearly confused. She was sitting across the table from Jin and Julia.

"He did. But it's only temporary. He puts up a wall of extremely dense ice, but ice doesn't last forever. The demons break through and they start all over again."

"But can't he just keep freezing the damn thing?" Verity scratched her head.

"About as easily as I can save people simultaneously," Jin looked at Verity, "Freezing that thing doesn't tire him, but he can't do a task that big for a couple of weeks."

"Oh…" Verity frowned.

"Either way he couldn't keep on doing that forever, Ver," Julia said sadly.

"So what are we going to do?" Verity questioned, "That thing has to be sealed somehow."

"That's the problem," Jin finished off his drink, "We don't know how to seal it, how to keep the demons from pouring through. Nor do we know whether we can keep up our counterattack for much longer." He sighed.

Julia leaned her head against Jin's shoulder, "We _have_ to figure something out."

"I know that and we will," Jin kissed her head, "But just don't know _when _we'll figure it out."

Verity gazed absently at the table top, "So I suppose that means that we're going to be doing what we're doing now until then, huh?"

Jin nodded, "Until then."

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A/n: oh..the problems just don't end…O_O

_**Next Chapter: "Your Majesty"**_


	27. Your Majesty

Disclaimer: Jin and Julia belong to Namco Bandai….. :(

A/n: Back to Jaez and Freeze…I hope the jumping around of scenes isn't too confusing..^_^

Your Majesty

"What the hell are those?!" Jaez remarked as she saw dozens of similarly-marked demons march out of the glowing orange-yellow portal. She ducked behind a tree and watched as they moved, one after the other. They towered at least eight feet and had numerous tattoo's running over their armored skin. In addition to their built in armor, they wore metal breastplates and helmets. From their left sides hung identical swords.

All of a sudden she heard someone beside her curse, "Fuck. It can't be…"

"Who are they Freeze?" Jaez whispered frantically.

Freeze stared at the demons and said nothing.

"Freeze! Who are they? They look like a military unit!" Jaez elbowed him.

"That's because they are," Freeze's face fell, "It's the Royal Guard."

"The….Royal Guard?"

"Yes. Demons appointed to keep safe the ruling council of Hell. They are rarely sent out away from the main cities to deal with problems. These are the best of them all. Even stronger than the Endowed," Freeze shook his head in disbelief.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Jaez cursed, "What is the best way to attack them?"

Freeze shook his head, "There is none….Our greatest hope at defeating them is to surprise them and never make our moves predictable. They are specially trained. They are the elite."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Jaez narrowed her eyes and slid her gun out of its holster on her thigh, "Let's kick their sorry asses."

With that said, she transformed and jumped into the air above the demons. The demons, however, were not surprised. As the dozens of men in the forest jumped out from behind the cover of the trees and fired, the demons ran forward and struck them down.

Jaez pulled out a second pistol and fired every round at the demons. Some of the bullets bounced of their armor and ricocheted back, while others pierced through the weak spots and dug into their flesh. Within moments, the unit's order was disrupted as each guard attempted to take Jaez down. She flipped over them and sent a kick into the back of one of them. The armor screeched in complaint as the force of it bent and distorted the metal.

One of the demons swung his massive sword at her, but she jumped away, and instead the sword sliced through the demon standing next to her. The creature roared in pain and fell to the ground in agony. Jaez snarled at them and then discarded her empty guns.

She landed near the edge of the clearing and spat, "Now you will see why they call me Reaper!"

Jaez launched herself forward at the demon nearest her and knocked him down. As they crashed to the ground, Jaez put her hand to his neck and the demon quickly fell limp; dead.

"Aim for their heads!" Jaez shouted at the guerilla force.

Gunshots rang throughout as the humans did their best to aim for the demons' faces in order to take them down more easily. Numerous demons met their end, but many more marched through the portal. The temperature suddenly dropped as Freeze sent an ice-orb at the biggest group of demons. They became solid blocks of ice and easily shattered as the bullets from the humans' guns hit their marks.

"There are too many, Reaper, Freeze!" she heard someone shout.

"Keep firing!" Freeze yelled back, "Take out as many as you can!"

Jaez once again jumped into the air, but this time she fired a hell-beam from her forehead. It struck half a dozen demons who were trying to re-assemble their broken ranks. She landed and suddenly felt herself grow dizzy.

"Damn it!" she cursed, and she saw bright splotches in her sight. For a moment she couldn't see anything and she put her hand to her head as she fell to one knee. She hadn't thought that firing the hell-beam would affect her so badly.

"Reaper! Look out!" she heard Freeze bellow.

Jaez shook her head blinked several times in the effort to get the blood flowing right again. As she saw the ground underneath her appear again, Jaez looked up in time to see a demon pounce toward her. She gasped and tried to avoid him but his claw managed to grasp her cloak and pull her back toward him.

He swung her around to ram her into a tree but the cloak gave way and tore, instead sending Jaez crashing into several of the guards. She quickly picked herself up but suddenly saw yet another demon launching himself at her. Blood dripped down her forehead and into her eye as she followed the flying demon's path. Before she could spread her wings to dodge the projectile, the demon suddenly veered out of her path and collided with several other demons. The demons that he had smashed into cried in frustration and anger.

"Stop!" the demon who had avoided Jaez suddenly shrieked, "Stop the attack!"

The demons glared at him in bewilderment.

"I said stop! We cannot fight her! We should not fight her!" he screamed at his comrades.

Suddenly the demons pulled back, leaving the humans staring in astonishment. They all stood immobilized as the demons huddled together once again and formed their proper ranks.

The demons stopped attacking and the humans stopped firing. It turns out that they no longer had any ammo left for their guns, otherwise they would have taken this opportunity to slaughter the creatures. Tension formed and everyone stood motionless, waiting to see what the other side would do.

The fiend who had called a halt to the calamity stepped forward, "We cannot fight her!" he pointed to Jaez.

Another demon stepped forward with ire burning in his expression, "And why not? She is a traitor. She has sided with the humans!"

The first demon shook his head fiercely, "Look at her markings! We cannot fight her!"

Demons gasped as they saw the black tattoos that adorned her skin. Without saying another word the demons fell to one knee and bowed their heads at her.

"What the…" Jaez started as the demons quickly regained their calm composures. She looked over to Freeze, who was standing next to her mirroring her own perplexed expression. He shrugged.

The second demon spoke, his head still bowed, "Forgive us. Please. We did not know who we were fighting. We did not mean to attack you."

"We were under orders. Orders that now hold no authority. Please forgive our ignorance and misplaced assault," the demon who had dodged Jaez spoke fervently, "The Royal Guard is at your command," he looked up at Jaez, "your Majesty."

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A/n: woo hoo! I had a blast writing this chapter…what do you think?

_**Next Chapter: "Chain of Command"**_


	28. Chain of Command

Disclaimer: TEKKEN is not my property…and unless I become richer than Bill Gates...it never will be..

A/n: hey guys/gals! sorry I didn't update yesterday but I didn't get a chance to do so... :( ...anyway...here's the next chappy!)

Chain of Command

"_Your Majesty_??" Jaez stood with an utterly perplexed look on her face.

The demon who had dodged her stood up and walked up to her, "Yes. Your Majesty."

"Why are you calling me that demon," she demanded, although she wasn't bothered by the fact that the demons had halted their assault.

"You bear the marks of the royal family," he pointed to the lightning bolt-like tattoo on her left arm and the markings that covered he rest of her body. Jaez' looked at her arm quickly and then looked back at the demon with her mouth slightly open.

Another demons stood up and stood next to the first, "We are the Royal Guard. Sworn to protect the Royal line. At the moment we serve the council that currently rules the DemonRealm. Apparently the 'volunteers' who set out to conquer this pitiful world were not doing a very good job, and so we were sent out to take their place and finish what they began."

Jaez narrowed her eyes. Beside her, Freeze was muttering something to himself. The small force that stood behind them near the cover of the trees could be heard whispering rapidly.

Jaez looked out to the horde of demons who were still down on one knee with their heads bowed. They would not rise until they were ordered to do so. Turning over to Freeze, she spoke, "Do you have anything to add to what they have said?"

Freeze frowned, "No. I had no idea there was such a thing as a Royal line. We…_servants_…were not allowed to know the inner workings of the realm's management. Obey is all we were ever meant to do." His hand balled into a fist and he glared back at the demons.

She turned away from him and looked back at the Guard. Her face was still riddled with confusion.

The first demon spoke again, "We cannot attack you…or your followers," he grimaced, "We are supposed to protect the Royals with our lives."

_This can't be. How is that possible…me…a…Royal? _Jaez was mystified.

_Wait…my demon half…my father was the vessel for the spirit of the demon leader…the demon king…I have his blood running through my veins, it would only make sense if _I_ as his daughter am part of that accursed regal family. Looks like I have a closer tie to Hell than I thought. Fuck._ In that moment, a thought occurred to her.

_Wait a minute. That means that…I am their…princess? _a small smile appeared on her lips

_They are sworn to protect and _obey_ me. That's the way it works. _She looked up at the demons standing before her._ They have to do what I say…no matter what._

With a rather troubled expression, the demons looked at Jaez' sudden grin.

"Are there more of you?" Jaez was suddenly thoughtful. Freeze looked at her in even greater confusion than the demons were.

Nevertheless the demon answered, "Yes my Lady. Thousands make up the ranks of the Royal Guard. We are scattered in companies throughout the realm…in the largest of municipalities. Lately we have been used as…_law enforcement_," he grimaced again and his tone hinted at a feeling that the occupation was insulting their prowess.

"Hm.." she smirked, "Will you look at that. I have my own professionally trained…army."

The creatures looked up at her and one of them spoke, "Yes my Lady. We are at your command. We cannot refuse your orders."

Jaez was lost in thought again. After a few moments she once again addressed the lead demons, "I want several, as many as necessary, to return to your realm and keep any and all demons from walking through that portal!" her tone became fierce, "I do not want any more fiends to pass through that gate!"

Several of the demons grimaced but they bowed their head in acknowledgement. Slowly one unit of demons, in a very orderly fashion, stood and retreated back through the gateway. The rest continued to stay at their knees. Jaez looked over at Freeze, who returned her gaze.

"I want the rest of you to aid me," Jaez turned to the rest of the creatures.

"With whatever we may, my Lady," a demon stood and walked before her. Although he towered several feet above her he was careful no to look her directly in the eyes, he continued, "What is it you wish for us to aid you in?"

"I want you to help me round up the demons who have flooded this realm. It was not meant to be ruled by demons. It is the realm of humans. It has always been that way…and it will forever be that way…" she cocked her head to the side slightly and scowled.

The demon bowed, "Where and when would you like us to begin your task, your Majesty?"

Jaez opened her mouth to say "immediately" but she quickly closed it, thought a moment and then spoke, "When I tell you to."

"Yes, your Majesty," the demon stepped back and retook his place among the demons' ranks.

Freeze stared at her, "What?! When you tell them to? Why not right now?!"

Jaez ignored him and once again addressed the troops, "Feel free to make camp in this clearing, but do not venture near the human encampments and villages nearby. I will return tomorrow morning with your official orders. At ease," the demons relaxed and stood, bowing before they began to make preparations for the quickly encroaching night.

She turned away from the demons and began to walk back into the forest. Freeze glanced warily back at the fiends as he trailed Jaez.

"Jaez! What are you doing? Why didn't you just send them out right now? They obviously will follow your every order!" Freeze hissed.

"We can't," Jaez looked at him, "We have to do something first!"

"What?!" Freeze was confused.

"We have to get word of them out to the world," her face was stern.

"What? Why?"

"Because if we don't, they will be shot down…just like any other demon. The last thing we need is to lose them because people didn't realize that they were on our side."

"People won't accept that Jaez!"

She stopped, "They are going to have to."

"How are we going to get word out?"

"I have to go get Jin's phone," she began walking again.

"For what? To contact Jin? What for?"

"In addition to getting a hold of Jin, I need to get a photograph of these guys to be able to send to him. They have identifiable markings and armor. That way we'll know who to get and who to let go."

Freeze nodded slightly, "Right…"

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_**Next Chapter: "Unexpected Allies"**_


	29. Unexpected Allies

Disclaimer: No, Tekken does not belong to me! XP

* * *

A/n: so…In order to follow the plan I have laid out for this story…I couldn't update sooner…sorry…

But this chapter is pretty lengthy..so I hope it makes up for that!

I'm not sure if I will be able to update daily anymore… :(

I haven't had much of a chance to write this past week so all the chapters I had written in advance were…used up! O_O

Now I have to write one every single night! o_O

* * *

Unexpected Allies

"We what?" Jin said incredulously. He was talking to Jaez on the phone. Julia was watching him while she ate. Jin was toying with the food on his plate when suddenly he dropped his fork.

"Jin. What is it?" Julia asked with worry. Jin held up a hand while he listened to Jaez finish.

"Um…yeah…send it to me," he got up and left the dining room. Julia blinked several times and then stared after him.

"Jin!" she called out, but he had already taken off up the stairs.

"What was that all about?" Verity said with a frown while sitting at her usual place across the table from Julia.

"I don't know. But apparently Jaez has some important news," Julia looked back at her plate.

"What do you think it might be?" Verity questioned.

"I have absolutely no idea, but I hope that it's good news."

After a few minutes Jin came back to the kitchen with the phone held to his ear with one hand, and a laptop in his other hand.

"No. I didn't get it. Send it again, the signal must be pretty weak down there." Jin sat back down and put the laptop down on the table. He pushed his plate away and then moved the laptop to take its place.

"Did you send it Jaez?" he asked again, "No..I…wait…yeah…I got it."

Julia pushed her chair over until she was next to Jin, who was sitting at the head of the table. She looked over his shoulder and watched an image appear.

"Oh my God. What is that?" she gasped.

"Holy shit!" Verity cursed, "That thing is _huge!_"

"Yeah…I'll try…but it's gonna be tough. I don't think they'll take help from demons very lightly," Jin spoke into the phone, "Yeah. I'll have Lars send it out to all of the Tekken Force troops. At least _we _won't take them out…hm…yeah…I'll call you back later." He hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"Jin, what on Earth is that?" Julia whispered fearfully.

"A soldier," Jin looked at Julia, "A specially trained soldier from Hell. Part of a highly skilled force known as the Royal Guard."

"They have a _royal guard_?" Julia said in astonishment. She put her hand to her mouth.

"Yeah. They do," Jin sighed.

"That's horrible! They are going to kill us all!" Verity said, stunned as she saw the terrifying image of the standing demon.

"No. They're not," Jin looked at Julia and Verity, "They can't. Doing so would go against their orders."

"Against their orders?" Julia's eyes widened, "What orders?"

"Yeah…what orders?" Verity agreed.

Jin turned to look back at the image, "Jaez' orders."

"Huh?" Verity was perplexed.

"Jaez' orders?" Julia looked even more confused than ever, "Are you trying to say that _Jaez _is ordering these soldiers?"

"That bitch! She was playing us for fools the whole time wasn't she?" Verity was appalled, "She's really working for those brutes isn't she?"

Jin turned to her with an angry look on his face, "No. She isn't."

"Verity! How could you say that?!" Julia was in shock.

"Well…here you are telling me that _Reaper _is ordering around a bunch of highly trained… 'military' demon soldiers, who are probably going to join the fight _against _humanity, and you're trying to make me believe that she's on _our _side?"

"They are the Royal Guard. They have to obey Jaez," Jin paused, "And they have to obey …me."

Verity stared, "Wwwhy??"

"Because Jaez and I apparently make up the remnants of the Royal line," Jin sighed.

"So…you have…another…_army_…that will follow your every command?" Julia asked softly.

He turned back to Julia, "Yes. Apparently I do," Jin shook his head, "I still can't believe it."

Verity stood there feeling rather awkward, "Um…sorry that I…"

"Don't worry about it Verity," Jin stopped her from finishing her sentence, "I know it seems rather…unbelievable." he smirked, "At last that accursed demon is good for something."

----_Bullshit! I can't believe that those damned demons are heeding _HER _every whim! _the demon shouted at Jin, who flinched slightly, _They can't just decide who to obey! They are supposed to OBEY _ME_!_

"Jin. Are you okay?" Julia had noticed that he had suddenly tensed, and suspected that Devil was bothering him again.

"I'm fine. I have to go to the Zaibatsu and set up a meeting with the head of all countries involved with the counterattack," he stood up, grabbed his laptop, and then quickly finished his drink, "I'll be back in a few hours."

Julia stood up also, "What for?"

Jin gazed back at Julia, "I need to somehow get all countries to agree to NOT attack the Royal Guard. Jaez is going to be sending them out to round up the other demons. They will be especially helpful when dealing with the Endowed. They're tricky bastards and don't hesitate to attack with their extra abilities. Maybe…if I can get the humans to join forces with the Guard, our troubles could come to an end much sooner than we had all anticipated."

"Then I'm going with you," she said firmly.

Jin's eyes narrowed, "What?…No…you don't need to come."

She walked up to him, "But I want to Jin."

Jin bit his lip with a look on his face that showed his desire for her to stay home, but Julia was giving him a pleading expression and he couldn't say no again, "Alright, you can come. But don't expect this little meeting to stay civilized." He turned to Verity, "Do you want to come too?"

Verity nodded quickly, "Of course! I'm not going to stay here to become utterly bored out of my mind."

A few hours later, Jin, Julia, and Verity were standing outside a massive conference room of the Mishima Zaibatsu. They were waiting silently, watching as several people flitted in and out of it. Jin, simply stood there next to Julia doing nothing but staring absentmindedly out of the nearby window. Again, Julia was toying with the silver chain around her neck. Verity, having no necklace to mess with, was constantly readjusting the plastic-covered id card that was pinned to her shirt. As the number of people filing out of the room began to decrease, the number of people going _into _the room began to rise.

Jin looked at Julia, who had once again shifted her weight to her other leg, "Are you sure you don't want to go ahead and go in? We could go sit down. We don't have to wait for Lars to arrive. He can find us once he gets here."

"No. I'm okay," Julia gave him a small smile as she put a hand on her lower back to more easily support the weight of her stomach, "It's just that the babies seem a little restless right now."

He smiled back, "Are you sure you want to wait?"

"Yes Jin," she caught sight of someone behind him and nodded in his direction, "He's right there so I think I can wait."

Jin turned around, "Ah…Lars. I was beginning to think you weren't going to make it," he reached out to shake his hand.

Lars bowed his head slightly before grasping Jin's hand, "Sorry for the delay. I got caught up in making sure the photograph was distributed amongst the troops." He turned to Julia and Verity and bowed to them, "Good evening, ladies."

Julia smiled, "Good evening, Lars."

Verity answered with a much less formal greeting, "Hey Lars."

He faced Jin again, "I heard that the conference is about to start," he gestured toward the door, "Shall we?"

"Ladies first," Jin said with a smile. Verity stepped forward while Lars held the door open. Jin put an arm around Julia's shoulder as he walked in beside her. Lars followed. They found their appointed seats and the controversial discussion began.

Over an hour later, the debate still continued, and very little progress had been made on behalf of Jin's appeal. Everyone was too traumatized by the mere mention of demons to think over how this could be helpful to everyone.

The ambassador to a prominent European country had the floor, "NO! How can you possibly believe that these demons will _actually aid us_! They are _demons _for Chrissake! They no little more than war and annihilation! We cannot possibly think that allying ourselves with those creatures will remedy our situation! There is no doubt in my mind that the moment the first waves' demons are cleared out, this _Royal Guard _will attempt to finish what they began! We cannot believe that their intentions are _good_! _Good_? I don't believe that those demons know the meaning of that word!" he turned to address Jin and Lars, "Your proposal is preposterous! What makes you so sure that they will not turn on us the moment the other demons are taken care of?!" he spat at them.

Jin jaw tightened before he answered, "We can trust them because they will not disobey their mistress' orders. It goes against their code of duty." he saw everyone's aghast looks, "Yes, ladies and gentlemen they do have a code. They are an entirely separate _civilization_, they are not as bestial as they were originally thought to be."

Lars, who was sitting to Jin's right, spoke in the attempt to back his nephew up, "They will not attack humans, because their mistress will not allow them to. We must set aside the prejudices our race has against theirs and take up the demons' assistance. How else are we supposed to stop their onslaught? If we do not accept their help, what hope do we have of putting an end to their massacring ways?"

Another ambassador stood up and interjected, "How can you be so sure that their _mistress _will not have a change of heart? How can you be so sure that _she _will not want to enslave our world with the aid of this _Royal Guard_?" he said spitefully and then sat back down.

Lars faced Jin, who had a troubled look on his face, and whispered, "What are we supposed to tell them? Should we reveal to them the truth?"

"I don't know if they will regard the truth as…well…truth," Jin replied softly.

Julia, who was sitting on Jin's other side, decided it was time for her to give some input, "We're going to have to, Jin. Otherwise they will not consider _anything else _to be credible enough evidence to accept our proposal."

"But nobody knows about Jan-Izumi. They may think that we're just making her up to make it seem like a good idea," Jin countered.

"Jin is right," Lars looked at Julia, "These people are practically trained to search for deceit of any kind in hot-topic conferences like these. Nobody will believe that Jin has a sister."

She frowned, "Tell them anyway. If they don't believe us…do we have a way to get a hold of Jan-Izumi so that we can maybe get her to tell them herself that neither she nor the Guard pose a threat?"

Jin glanced at Lars, "Julia's right. What do we lose by telling them the truth? We might as well elaborate as much as possible."

"And if they don't believe us…then we get a hold of Jan-Izumi?" Lars questioned.

Jin nodded, "Yeah. Pretty much. Let's see what they have to say," he took a deep breath, stood up, and raised his voice, "We can trust their intentions because I know their mistress."

"You took your time in formulating an answer, Mishima," the ambassador who had brought up the topic of the _mistress' _intentions said, "You say you know her. How long have you known her? How long have you known her to be absolutely positive of what she is like?"

"Long enough," Jin answered simply and then after a short pause added, "She is my sister."

Gasps could be heard throughout the room, "You have a sister?" could be heard repeated numerous times.

"Yes. Her name is Jan-Izumi, and I assure you that she is no traitor to our world. This is our home, we will not sit and watch it be destroyed," he ended fiercely.

For several minutes the room had fallen silent. The silence, however, was broken as a third ambassador decided to pose another question, "Are you sure…absolutely sure…that her allegiance lies with us? We all know that you Mishimas never seem to agree with each other."

Jin laughed once, "Yes. I know it seems that way, but rest assured, Jan-Izumi will not betray us."

Still, the people assembled said nothing. Julia and Verity looked at each other quickly and then up at Jin and Lars.

Lars looked around at the troubled faces of the ambassadors present, and the ones who were watching the conference via a live satellite feed, he raised his voice, "Perhaps you are in need of some time to consider the proposal, ambassadors?"

Several of them nodded. Jin glanced at Lars and then addressed the ambassadors, "Very well. I know it will seem like a very short time, but if we could have your answers tomorrow morning, my sister could get to rounding up the demons that much more quickly."

People began to pick up their belongings and then silently they left the massive conference room. Jin, Julia, Lars, and Verity stayed put until everyone had left, before they, too, departed.

The following morning everyone had returned to the conference room, and the live feeds were running again. After considering their options all night, nearly all of the ambassadors had agreed to the Royal Guard Proposal. The photo of the Royal Guard was circulated and he race for the hunt of the malevolent demons was now on.

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_**Next Chapter: "Round Them Up"**_


	30. Round Them Up

Disclaimer: Tekken…is my property…NOT! XD

A/n: agh! I can't believe that it took me that long to update! O_O

Round Them Up

"Don't let them escape!" Jaez yelled at one of the Guards.

The Endowed had turned out to be trickier to corner than had been thought before. All of the other demons had been easy enough. One look at the Royal Guard and they had surrendered, for the most part, without a struggle. Apparently back in Hell, the Guard was known for it's ruthlessness and power.

"Damn it!" she heard someone curse as the dozen Endowed had suddenly vanished into a gray wisp of smoke.

Jaez snarled, "Where did they go!" as she looked around for the demons. The looks on everyone's faces clearly showed that they had absolutely no clue.

"Jin! Can you hear me?" she put her finger to the thin headset that was attached to her left ear.

"Perfectly," came the distant yet clear response.

"Can you run a thermal scan of the area for me? If they've simply disappeared from sight, their heat signatures should still be visible," she gave a final glance at the spot where the demons had gone from sight.

"Yeah. One sec."

Jaez could hear the faint tapping of a keyboard as Jin began to readjust the visual range of one of the Zaibatsu satellites from HQ. It had been decided, with much complaining from Jin, that he was going to be heading the technical aspects of the hunt from the Mishima Zaibatsu. Julia had been all in favor of Jaez' plan. While Jaez was out with the Guard, Jin would help keep watch via the extensive satellite systems. Jin had constantly objected, saying that he was perfectly capable of joining his sister. However, there was the problem of Devil. They had discovered, with Obsidian's and Freeze's help, that he could be heard by demons. They could not risk him sending out commands to the Guard that would interfere with the rounding up of the demons. The last thing they needed was Devil attempting to regain his status as supreme ruler of the demon race. He _was_, technically, after all…still the supreme ruler. Jaez and Jin couldn't actually override anything he said. As long as they kept Devil away from the Guard, they would be okay.

"Jin?" Jaez asked after a few more minutes.

"The satellite is still repositioning, Jaez. Chill for a sec."

"I've chilled for various seconds Jin," she was slightly annoyed.

"Alright, here we go," more tapping, "And…they are still there. Not in the exact spot in front of you, but they are still around."

"Can you tell us exactly?"

"Yeah. I've got a bunch of them…maybe five, who are all grouped together to the south, and the rest are scattered. I'll send you the thermal image," Jin said.

Jaez reached for the pocket computer that was strapped to her right hip. She opened the screen and found an image uploading, "There you are you little cowards," she spat.

"Need anything else Jaez?" Jin spoke to his sister.

"Yeah…If you could have a bubble bath ready for me when I get home that would be great," she mocked. Jaez could almost see her brother's face twist in annoyance from his place behind the computer screen.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Jan-Izumi," he said dryly, "I don't think I'm going to do that."

Jaez smirked, "Fine. Keep an eye out for any sneaky demons would you?"

"Absolutely," Jin cut off the connection before Jaez could say anything that would annoy him more.

She turned back to the demons, "Alright, I want a dozen of you to head to the south and look for the Endowed that are hiding out in a nearby cave. The entrance is hidden by a waterfall, so follow the river until you find it," Several of them moved out with surprising stealth, " I want the rest of you to group up in threes and search for the others in these general areas," She pointed to the computer screen as they approached her. The moment they had taken a look at the image, they quickly, and wordlessly, assembled and jumped into the sky, leaving Jaez with another dozen Guards that acted as her personal security entourage. She looked at the demons and sighed. She hadn't wanted bodyguards, but Jin had insisted. If _he _was going to have to stay out of the fight, _she _would have to have a dozen Guards with her at all times. She and Jin had verbally squared off; each of them trying to put some sense into the other. Of course…they didn't get very far. In the end, Julia, Verity, and Obsidian, had convinced them to accept the compromise.

Suddenly, Jin's voice interrupted Jaez' memories of the near-past, "Hey. You're not going with the rest of them. Why not? I was under the impression that you were rather blood-thirsty when it came to hunting the Endowed." his voice hinted at a sense of teasing.

Jaez frowned, "Well, I want to take them out. But I'm getting tired of running all over the globe in search of them," she reached down to pick up a small, smooth, blue stone and then turned it over slowly in her hands.

"Yeah, you must be exhausted," Jin said with empathy.

"You have no idea," Jaez said curtly.

Jin was silent for a few moments before he spoke again, "When do you think you'll be done?"

Jaez threw the stone in her hand up over the treetops, "Well…If we're lucky and those bastards don't slip through our fucking fingers again…today."

"Hmm…" Jin said thoughtfully, "Really? Today? It could all be over…today?"

"Yup. Today," Jaez said simply, "Just today, and all of the renegade demons will have been caught and shipped back to Hell so that they can rot there."

"My Lady?" a Guard had approached her.

Jaez looked up at him, "Yes."

He pointed to the demons who were returning, "They have been captured, your Majesty."

She looked over to the Guards who were returning with the Endowed demon's slouching over. A good number of them had stab wounds in their stomachs.

She smiled, "Good work demons. You know what to do with them."

The fiends began to retreat back into the air and headed off to the portal.

Jin spoke again through the earpiece, "You know what? I think I _will _have someone get that bubble bath for you." He laughed once.

"Really? Cause that would be amazing," she laughed.

"Yeah. Just tell us when you are five minutes from getting home. You wouldn't want your water to get cold while you get here," he laughed again.

"Yeah, sure. I'll get a hold of you guys," she sighed, "I'll be home soon."

"Come back in one piece, please," he joked.

Jaez shook her head in amusement before spreading her wings and taking flight, the dozen Guards trailing closely behind her.

___________________________________

"It's over…?" Julia whispered, "It's really over?"

Verity walked next to her, "I still can't believe it."

"Well. Believe it ladies," Jaez smiled as they made their way to Jin's office on the top floor of the Mishima Zaibatsu main headquarters. Jaez' leather trench coat billowed out slightly behind her.

Within a few minutes they had reached the top floor, and proceeded to meet Jin in his office.

"So, dear brother, what are you doing?" Jaez said loudly as she pushed open the double-doors and walked in unannounced.

Jin looked up from his computer screen, clearly startled, "What happened to knocking before you come in?"

Jaez laughed, "I felt like giving you a hard time."

Julia and Verity giggled as they walked in behind her.

"Will you look at that…I'm popular today," Jin said with a smile as he stood up.

Julia walked up to him and gave him a kiss, "Very popular indeed."

Jin hugged her and then spoke while Julia's arms were still wrapped around his waist, "So. What brings you ladies here today?"

Julia rested her head against his chest, "We just came to see what you were doing. As you can tell, we're a tad bit bored today. Elated, but bored," she laughed.

Verity plopped down in one of the swivel chairs in front of his desk, "So. Whatcha up to Jin?"

Jaez also let herself drop slightly into a chair and then turned it to see everyone. Jin and Julia walked over to the leather couch that was pushed up against one of the walls. Julia leaned against Jin and he wrapped one of his arms around her shoulder and then put his other hand on her stomach. He smiled at her, and she smiled back. For several moments, no one said anything.

Jaez raised an eyebrow, "So….Jin…are you going to answer Verity's question or not?"

Jin looked up, "Well…I'm just approving the withdrawal of Tekken Force troops from the major cities around the world. Although, the cities don't seem to mind keeping them around now," he shrugged.

"So…the troops are coming home?" Jaez questioned, while tapping her foot slightly.

"If they want to," Jin said plainly, "If they want to stay, they can. You never know when having the troops around the place may be helpful."

"Hmm. I see," Jaez said.

Suddenly there was a slight buzz as the intercom turned on and the secretary outside spoke, "S-sir. There is someone here to see you. He goes by the name of H-Havoc and claims to be one of the commanding officers o-of the Royal Guard. W-Would you like me to let him t-through?" her voice quavered a bit, no doubt at the sight of the massive demon.

Jin, Julia, Verity and Jaez all glanced at each other quickly. Jaez caught Jin's eye and after a moment, Jin nodded. She stood up and pushed the button to the intercom, "Go ahead and let him through," she said quickly and then released the button.

After a few moments, the doors swung open and the jittery secretary stepped to the side to let the demon through. She quickly closed the doors and returned to her desk.

Jin and Jaez stood up and walked up to him. Verity dashed across the office and took Jin's place next to Julia.

"Why have you come here demon?" Jin asked firmly. Jaez' eyes narrowed slightly; she knew this couldn't be good.

Havoc bowed before speaking, "Forgive my unannounced visit, my Lord," he looked at Jaez, " my Lady. But I am afraid I am here to discuss a rather delicate matter."

Jaez crossed her arms, "What matter?"

"A matter of authority, your Majesty," this demon was not afraid to make eye-contact with Jaez.

"How so?" Jin asked.

"I'm sure you are aware of the fact that the DemonRealm has been ruled by the High Council for the past three thousand years," the twins nodded, "However, since your…appearance…there has been a dispute over that authority. Although it is clear that you are meant to rule, you cannot do so from this realm."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jaez said tersely.

The demon continued, "It means, my Lady, that in order for the Council to cease ruling and all future conquests of the Human realm be halted, one of you must venture to our realm and take your rightful place as sole ruler."

Julia and Verity gasped. Jaez' jaw dropped, and Jin tensed.

"We…what?" Jin said between clenched teeth.

Havoc repeated, "One of you must leave this realm and rule Hell," he paused, "The Royal Line must do what it was meant to do."

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: and just when you thought their troubles were over…O_O

_**Next Chapter: "Choice"**_


	31. Choice

Disclaimer: Tekken belongs to Namco Bandai!

A/n: almost done…only three chapters to go…O_O…

Choice

"Are you insane?!" Jaez blurted out after several moments of ominous silence.

Havoc was slightly taken aback. Julia and Verity were still speechless; they were gaping at the three standing figures with their hands over their mouths.

Jaez continued, "There is no way we are going to leave this world. Earth is our home and we are not about to give it up to go to Hell!" her eyes were narrowed dangerously. She looked about ready to send the demon crashing back through the double doors. Taking a step forward, Jaez' left hand twitched, but before she could do anything the demon spoke again, quickly.

"My Lady. I am afraid that I don't know what else to say. There is no choice. The council has been ruling for three thousand years because no one believed that the Royal Line would return. The Line had been thought to be…dead. But since that is no longer true, it is up to you to decide who will continue your legacy…in your realm."

Jin simply stood there, jaw and fists still clenched. They all watched as the demon bowed respectfully and retreated.

As soon as Havoc had closed the doors behind him, Julia sprang up from the couch, "NO! Neither of you are going to Hell!"

Verity also stood up, "You guys aren't seriously considering that brute's…ultimatum, are you?" she was shocked.

Jin and Jaez said nothing.

Julia continued, "Those demons have been ruled by that…council…for the past three thousand years. They can keep being ruled by them if they want. There is absolutely no reason for one of you to give up your life here to go to some God-forsaken inferno!"

Verity nodded in agreement, "Yeah. There is no reason for you guys to go live with those things."

Jin finally spoke. His voice was low, "That would work…only if we could guarantee that the portal could be sealed…"

Jaez finished, her voice also low, "…but we don't know how to do that. No one knows how to do that…"

Julia shook her head, and a few tears escaped slowly from her eyes, "Please. Tell me there is something that will let you _both_ stay here."

Jin turned around to face Julia and Verity. Jaez was still glaring at the doors. She hadn't so much as moved a muscle. Jin walked forward and Julia stepped into his embrace, still sobbing, "Please tell me that this isn't happening…"

"We should go home," Jin said in a rather detached voice, "We'd be better off talking about this there."

Verity shrugged sadly, and walked out of the office. Jin and Julia followed, but Jaez stayed in her place, a firm expression set in her face.

"Jaez?" Jin walked back after motioning for Verity and Julia to continue walking, "What are you doing?" The two best friends had entered the elevator and a small "ping" announced their descent to the ground floor.

"Jaez?" Jin repeated. She was still looking forward in a rather aimless stare. Jin frowned and stood in front of her.

"We both know who has to go…" Jaez said quietly.

"We'll talk about this at home Jaez. We'll figure something out," Jin assured her, if rather weakly.

Jaez finally turned her gaze up to Jin. She had a somber expression that echoed in her eyes.

"Whatever," Jaez walked lifelessly out of the office.

________________

*following morning*

"You can't do this," Julia was still begging them to reconsider _any _alternative.

"This isn't fair. For either of you," Verity stood in the main doorway of the Mishima mansion. Julia stood next to her, and they were both attempting to block the way of the resolute Kazama twins.

"You don't honestly believe that anything you do can stop us, do you?" Jaez snapped.

"There is little more we can do. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be," Jin said desolately.

Julia shook her head, "Please…" she ended softly.

The twins said nothing more and pushed past the two girls. Julia fell to her knees and continued to cry. Verity kneeled next to her and hugged her as she watched the twins get in the Hummer and leave.

At the Mishima Zaibatsu, Jin and Jaez got out of the car and wordlessly walked to the conference room where Havoc and a few other demon commanders would be waiting. Lars met them at the main entrance.

"The Guard commanders arrived about fifteen minutes ago," Lars informed them.

"So we haven't kept them waiting long?" Jaez asked.

"Not at all," Lars responded.

"Good," Jin added, "The sooner we get this over with…" he drifted off.

"Yeah," Jaez said simply.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Lars questioned. Jin and Jaez had told him about the ultimatum when he had come over for dinner the previous night, "For all we know there might be something else we can do. Maybe assign one of the Royal Guard commanders as temporary replacement?" Lars tried to be hopeful. He didn't want to lose either his niece or his nephew. They were the only family he had left.

"No. I don't think so," Jin said solemnly. The three of them paused at the door to the conference room. Jaez looked at them for a moment and then was the first to walk in.

Jin and Lars glanced at each other briefly before they followed her in. Three demons were standing at the far end of the room, talking to each other. Havoc turned around and then bowed to them.

"Have you made your decision?" he asked.

"Yes," Jin and Jaez said simultaneously.

"And who has been chosen?" said one of the other demons.

Before either of them could open their mouths to say who was the unlucky one, the doors to the conference room swung open. Several Tekken Force guards were shouting but the intruder said nothing and barreled through. Some of the soldiers tried to stop him but they were thrown back. He was followed by another frailer man, who paused at the door and waited.

Everyone was surprised and turned to look at who had arrived.

"What the…" Jaez was shocked.

"What is _he _doing here?" Jin's eyes narrowed.

Lars stared, "Kazuya?"

________________________________________________________________________

_**Next Chapter: "Trade"**_


	32. Trade

Disclaimer: Tekken is property of Namco Bandai.

Trade

Kazuya stopped in the middle of the room, giving everyone an indifferent stare.

Lars stepped forward, "What are you doing here, Kazuya?"

Kazuya gave his half-brother a rather annoyed look, "I heard that there is suddenly an opening for leadership in Hell" he said with a bit of sarcasm, "I've come to say goodbye to the new ruler."

Jin and Jaez glared at him. Kazuya glared back; his red eye gleaming.

Kazuya continued, "I have a feeling that neither of you want to take up the job." He crossed his arms in an arrogant gesture.

"What is it to you?" Jaez spat.

"How did you even know of that?" Jin asked; as far as he knew only he, Jaez, Verity, Julia, Lars, and Obsidian knew of the ultimatum.

"You'd be surprised as to where I have eyes and ears, son" he added with a bit of spite.

Jin's eyes narrowed, and Jaez continued to glare.

"What do you want?" Jaez said menacingly.

Kazuya looked at her and paused before saying anything, "My, my, my. You really do look like your mother don't you?" He smirked. "Only I don't remember her ever giving a glare like that one."

"What do you want, Kazuya," Lars drew his attention away from Jaez, who looked like she wanted to kick his sorry ass out of the building.

Kazuya looked back at the demons who were standing behind his progeny and his brother. They gave him a rather confused look.

"I'm here to make you all a deal," he said finally.

"What deal?" Jin said warily.

"I'm here to trade spots with whoever it is that was going to go enjoy the rest of their lives in oblivion," he mocked.

"You what?" Jin was stunned.

"Trade?" Jaez was taken aback.

"Yes. Trade. Need I define the term?" he said darkly. The twins glared at him. "So. Who was going?"

Jaez raised her chin and stepped forward, "I was."

"Really? I would have thought that in chivalry, Jin would have begged to go," Kazuya raised an eyebrow as he gave his son a quick glance. Jin clenched his jaw to keep from insulting him.

"Jin can't go," Jaez spat, "He has too much to lose if he does." Kazuya turned his attention back to Jaez. "His girlfriend is pregnant. He can't go raise his kids in _Hell, _nor can he leave and deprive them of a father." She glowered at Kazuya, who merely rolled his eyes in disregard, "I have nothing to tie me to this world." She paused. "I have nothing to lose."

"That's right," he looked at Jin, "You got that Chang girl pregnant. Twins, right? Aren't you a little unstable to be having kids?" he tapped his head as he spoke. Jin was clearly doing everything he could to keep from attacking his father. Jaez, was not likely to keep her own cool for much longer.

Before either of them did something stupid, Kazuya turned around and looked at the man who was standing at the entrance of the room. In that instant the man dashed forward while pulling out a folder from his briefcase. Without saying a word he handed the papers to Kazuya who walked to the nearby table and set them down.

"Sign," he looked at Jaez.

"Sign? Why?" she gave him a cautious look.

"I am a businessman Jan-Izumi. I can't just leave without resolving a few legal issues," he held his hand out to the man, who reached into his briefcase for a pen and then placed it in Kazuya's outstretched palm. Kazuya held the pen out to Jaez. "If you sign, you will be trading places with me. I'll take your place in Hell, and you'll take my place as President/CEO of G Corp."

Jaez' eyes widened, she opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Jin and Lars likewise gave Kazuya similar expressions of disbelief.

"W-why?" Jaez stammered, "Why do you want to do this?"

Kazuya shrugged, "If this world refuses to be dominated, I'll go rule one that has absolutely no problem with following my orders."

Jaez' eyes narrowed, "Who says that you won't try to use the demons to try to take over _this _world as well?"

Kazuya looked at her while shaking his head slightly, "You don't understand the…politics, of the demon realm. I had a rather lengthy chat with Devil last night, and as long as the two of you are in the same boat," he looked at Jin and Jaez, "I can do nothing to oppose you. Just like you can do nothing to oppose me. We cancel each other out. The demons will do nothing that will end up contradicting each other's orders. That means that unless one of you start to see things _my _way, we're nothing more than useless enemies."

Jin turned to Havoc and the other demons, "Is that true?"

"Yes, my Lord." Havoc nodded once, "You and your sister together possess the same authority as your father alone." The other demons agreed quickly.

"So," Kazuya held out the pen again.

Jaez stepped forward, and then looked at Jin. He gave Jaez a small smile, "It's up to you."

She looked at her father and nodded; she took the pen and Kazuya stepped aside. Jaez looked down at the papers and saw that Kazuya had already signed them. She held the pen above the pen for a few moments before she signed her name with a flourish: Jan-Izumi Kazama. She paused for a moment and then added at the end: -Mishima.

She had signed it: Jan-Izumi Kazama-Mishima.

Jaez straightened up and the fidgety man stepped forward, flipped the pages and pointed out the other places where she had to sign. Jin, Lars, Kazuya and the Guard commanders watched in silence. She signed the last paper and set the pen down. The man reordered the papers and put them back in their folder, which went back into his briefcase.

"Congratulations, Jan-Izumi," Kazuya held his hand out, "You are now the President and CEO of G Corp."

"Thank you," she said hesitantly as she grasped his hand.

Kazuya turned to Havoc and two other Commanders, "So. I'm going to guess that you are escorting me to my new home, right?"

"That is correct my Lord," Havoc bowed, and the two demons mirrored him.

"Very well," Kazuya crossed his arms, "Let's be on our way then."

Just as they were about to leave, Kazuya paused, "Wait. There is one more thing," he turned to Jin. "Consider this a favor, Jin. I'm going to be taking Devil's spirit with me. I suppose that you have noticed that his ever-irritating voice has not caused your ears to start bleeding."

Jin's mouth opened slightly as he realized that Devil had said nothing to him in over twenty-four hours.

"Well. I hope you all have a nice life. Feel free to come visit anytime you want," Kazuya smirked as he started to walk out, "Oh, and Lars? Keep them out of trouble would you?"

"I always do," Lars said with a grin. Jin and Jaez gave him an exasperated look. Lars just shrugged. The three of them stepped out of the room and followed the demons outside. They paused after they had stepped out past the main entrance. Wordlessly, they watched as they say Kazuya and the Guard Commanders jump into the sky and disappear from sight.

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: hahaha…I know Kazuya was a little OOC but I thought that he should be that way as he left the Human Realm forever, ya know…not quite so despicable…O_O…XD

_Last Chapter: "And So It Ends"_


	33. And So It Ends

Disclaimer: Tekken is most definitely NOT mine…

A/n: I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, but school started Monday and I've been swamped with homework...o-o

anyway....here it is ladies and gentlemen…the conclusion to "Apocalypse" !! XD

And So It Ends

*Two months later*

The furious sound of mashing buttons was heard even through the sounds of everyone's laughter. Jin and Jaez were playing videogames in the game room - a quite recent addition to the Mishima Mansion. Julia, Verity, Freeze, Lars, and Obsidian were all situated in the various seats that surrounded the large plasma TV. Obsidian was one of the few demons that were allowed to roam freely throughout the world. As long as she stayed out of trouble, no one was really concerned.

"Damn you Jaez!" Jin said in exasperation as his character was once again caught by one of Jaez' character's grabs.

"Ha!" Jaez said loudly, "You may be good, but I am SO much better," she grinned widely. Everyone laughed as they saw Jin's demise at the hands of his younger sister.

"Come on Jin," Lars said as he laughed, "I thought you said you were a master at this game."

"I am…." he said with a scowl as he continued to press button on the controller.

"Not anymore," Verity said with a giggle.

"YES!" Jaez practically screamed as she KO'd the last of Jin's fighters.

Jin's head dropped as he groaned. "I lost…AGAIN!" he was shocked.

"Sorry bro, but you can't beat me," she grinned smugly.

That comment sent everyone into another fit of laughter, clearly at Jin's expense.

Suddenly, Julia stopped laughing and the glass she had been holding crashed down to the wooden floor. Everyone turned to her in surprise. She was doubled over, holding her stomach when she cried out in pain.

"Julia!" Verity was the first to say anything.

Jin dropped the game controller and rushed to her side, "Julia? What's wrong?"

Julia shook her head, "I don't… kn…OWW!" she gritted her teeth as another wave of pain coursed through her abdomen.

"Uh oh," Jaez walked up to her, "Julia take deep breaths." Julia shook her head. "Come on Julia, breathe!"

Julia let out another shriek. Jin was looking at her with a terrified expression on his face. Everyone was looking at each other in panic. No one knew exactly what was going on.

"What's wrong with her?" Verity squeaked, her hands were up by her mouth.

Jaez answered her question as she spoke to Julia, "I think you're having the babies, Jules," she smiled.

"What?!" Jin was stunned.

"Wait! But I thought she still had three weeks to go!" Verity's jaw dropped. Jaez shook her head as Julia tried to regain a steady breathing pattern.

"No. The contractions are too close too each other. Apparently those two want out," she grinned, "And they want out _now, _not three weeks from now." she turned to Jin, "You better get her to the hospital now Jin. Preferably _before _her water breaks."

Jin looked at Jaez with wide eyes before turning back to Julia. He reached over and picked her up, then dashed as fast as he dared out to his truck. Jaez ran out in front of him and opened the door for him.

Everyone else also rushed out to the front, and they saw Jin starting the engine.

"Come on you guys!" Jaez motioned to everyone. "Get in the Hummer! I'll follow Jin." Everyone clambered into the humvee, and Jaez pulled out of the garage and followed Jin's Avalanche.

*sometime later*

Everyone was waiting anxiously in the aptly named waiting room. Verity was pacing the room in a frenzy.

"For goodness' sake Verity! You're going to go straight through to the ground floor if you keep pacing around like a maniac!" Jaez said in exasperation. Verity narrowed her eyes at Jaez and continued to pace. "Alright, but if the floor underneath you suddenly collapses don't expect me to jump in after you to save you," Jaez grinned. Everyone chuckled.

A nurse then walked in and called out, "Family of the Kazamas." Verity practically ran up to the nurse, who was startled at Verity's sudden appearance at her side.

"Yeah, I'm family," Verity said.

"No you're not," Jaez shook her head slightly as she laughed, "Only Lars and I are family of the Kazamas. None of you are, remember?"

Verity stuck her tongue out at Jaez, "That may be, but I've known them longer than any of _you _have, _remember_?" she countered. "So HA! What now?"

The nurse laughed, "You can go in and see the new family, but with so many of you… I suggest that you keep it short."

"Of course," Jaez said as she saw Verity take off down the hall, "And what room are they in?"

"218," the nurse smiled kindly.

"Thank you," Lars added as they all followed Verity.

Verity suddenly stopped, "WAIT!" she turned around, and the nurse did as well, "What did they have?!"

The nurse smiled again, "Twin boys."

The small group walked down the hall until they found the room. They walked in and found Jin and Julia each one holding one of the twins.

"Hey Jules!" Verity said quietly but with plenty of excitement as she strolled in and stood near the foot of Julia's bed. "Aww…they are SO CUTE!"

"Hey guys," Julia said softly. She looked tired but very joyful.

Verity could not contain herself, "Oooo! Can I hold one of them? Please?" Julia smiled and nodded. "Um…which one?" Verity smiled. Jin stood up from his chair next to Julia's bed and walked over to Verity. She reached out and Jin carefully placed his son in her arms.

"Hey there little guy!" she whispered and the baby stirred. She looked up at Jin and Julia, "I gotta say…you two make some good-looking kids!" Everyone laughed, and quickly muffled their laughter so as to keep from waking the newborns.

Jaez walked over to Julia's side, "May I hold him?"

"Of course," Julia smiled. With surprising ease, Jaez picked the baby up out of Julia's arms.

"They're beautiful," Jaez said.

Julia continued to beam, "Thank you."

Jaez walked over to give everyone else a chance to look at the baby. Freeze, Obsidian and Lars all smiled but they didn't say anything for fear of waking him up. Verity walked over next to Jaez.

"So have you two decided what you were going to name them yet?" Lars asked quietly.

"Yeah, we have," Julia smiled at Jin and reached out for his hand. He grabbed her hand.

"Verity you have Kenji and Jaez you have Kaleb," Jin said.

They all smiled. Verity grinned, "Well Kenji, Kaleb…welcome to the world."

________________________________________________________________________

A/n: And so it ends only to begin anew… XD

Well there you have it: The End.

I had a fantastic time writing this. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_^

don't worry...there WILL be a sequel...until then, I bid you adieu....OnyxAngel


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